The Largest Companies in Nigeria and How They Make Their Money

The largest companies in Nigeria by revenue operate in telecoms, banking, oil and gas, cement and brewing. MTN Nigeria, Dangote Cement, Access Holdings, Seplat and Nigerian Breweries appear often in recent rankings. Revenue alone does not show who earns the most, and naira figures move with the exchange rate, so comparisons need care. This guide covers what each company does and its latest reported figures, based on sources checked on 22 October 2026. CMA9ja updates these figures as companies publish new results.

Big revenue numbers can look impressive, but a company with lower revenue may keep more of what it earns. Knowing the difference helps you read any ranking properly.

What the latest rankings show

ThisDay’s August 2026 ranking covered unaudited half year revenue for 2026. The top five were MTN Nigeria at ₦2.99 trillion, Dangote Cement at ₦2.51 trillion, Seplat at ₦2.50 trillion, Aradel Holdings at ₦2.49 trillion and Nigerian Breweries at ₦803.68 billion. Half year figures are not audited, so they can change when the full year is published.

Telecoms and MTN Nigeria

MTN Nigeria sells mobile voice, data and related services to millions of customers. It reported full year 2025 revenue of ₦5.2 trillion, up 55.1 percent. It is listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), which means its shares trade publicly.

Banking and Access Holdings

Access Holdings reported gross earnings of ₦5.53 trillion for 2025, up 13.3 percent. Gross earnings are the total income a bank earns from interest and fees, not the profit it keeps after costs. That difference matters when you compare banks.

Cement and Dangote Cement

Dangote Cement reported 2025 revenue of ₦4.31 trillion, up about 20 percent from the year before. Its pre tax profit roughly doubled to ₦1.53 trillion, and the company proposed a dividend of ₦45 per share.

Oil and gas

• Seplat Energy reported ₦2.50 trillion in revenue for the first half of 2026, up 15.5 percent.
• Aradel Holdings reported ₦2.49 trillion for the same period, up sharply from the year before.
• NNPC Ltd, the state oil company, reported ₦23.99 trillion for 2023, which is one of the largest figures on the list, though it is an older year.
• Oando reported ₦4.08 trillion for 2024, and NLNG reported ₦5.29 trillion for 2023.

Brewing and consumer goods

Nigerian Breweries reported ₦803.68 billion in revenue for the first half of 2026, up 8.9 percent. Nestlé Nigeria and BUA Foods also appear regularly in these rankings, so check their latest results before you compare.

How to read these numbers fairly

• Check the year. Some rankings mix 2023, 2024 and 2025 figures in one table.
• Remember the naira has moved a lot against the dollar, so a naira figure can look bigger or smaller than it really is.
• Separate revenue from profit. A company with high revenue can have thin margins.
• Treat half year unaudited figures as early signals, not final results.

Revenue shows how much money moves through a company, while profit shows how much it keeps, so a big name can still earn less than a smaller rival.

If you want to go deeper, read the company’s most recent annual report on its investor relations page or the NGX filings. If you spot an error in this guide, contact us and we will review it.