Top Companies 2023: The 25 best workplaces to grow your career in Nigeria

LinkedIn Top Companies is a ranking of the 25 best workplaces to grow a career. Backed by unique LinkedIn data measuring different elements of career progression, the list reveals companies like 安永 , MTN and Sterling Bank that are helping their employees build careers that will set them up for long-term success.

This year continues to bring waves of disruption in the labour market with the rise of the ‘quiet’ trend (‘quiet quitting,’ ‘quiet hiring,’ ‘quiet firing.’) As workers continue to adapt after the Covid-19 pandemic changed working habits, many professionals continue to seek their best next career move, while employers rethink how they attract, retain and develop talent.

Our second annual LinkedIn Top Companies Nigeria list is the resource to find the 25 best Nigerian workplaces to grow your career right now. The methodology looks at components like how employees are advancing both within a company and when they leave, how they’re upskilling while employed there, and more — revealing companies that help set people up to get ahead in their careers.

When compiling the list, we also consider factors like attrition and layoffs. Companies that have laid off 10% or more of their workforce between Jan.1, 2022 and the list launch, based on public announcements — or that have attrition greater than 10%, based on LinkedIn data — are ineligible to rank. A number of the companies on the list have had layoffs under that threshold over the past year.

Wondering how to use the rankings in your own career or job search? This list is filled with actionable insights and resources for professionals at every level. For each company, you’ll find data around most notable skills, largest job functions and more (tip: clicking on a skill will bring you directly to a relevant LinkedIn Learning course). If a company sparks your interest, take a look at their current job openings and connect with employees you may know, or turn on job alerts to stay on top of future opportunities.

Here are this year’s 25 #LinkedInTopCompanies in Nigeria.?

EY is the parent company of ifb SE, Adelphi Digital Consulting Group Pte Ltd, Breakthrough Funding Ltd and others.

Most notable skills: Tax Accounting, Auditing, Payroll Services | Most common job titles: Audit Supervisor, Audit Associate, Accounting Associate | Largest job functions: Accounting, Finance, Consulting | About EY: EY (Ernst & Young) is an international professional services organisation providing audit, tax, advising, and transaction services to clients in more than 150 countries. Since its inception in 1989, the company has grown to over 700 branches and ranks as one of the Big Four global accounting firms.

See jobs at EY | See people you may know at EY

MTN is the parent company of Afrihost, Mascom, M1 Group, Mowali and others.

Most notable skills: Competitive Strategies, Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Software Testing | Most common job titles: Customer Service Representative, Salesperson, Account Manager | Largest job functions: Customer Success and Support, Information Technology, Sales | About MTN: MTN is a telecommunications company that provides mobile and fixed-line phone services, as well as internet and digital services to customers. The company has operations in more than 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East.

See jobs at MTN | See people you may know at MTN

Most notable skills: Competitive Strategies, Commercial Banking, Artificial Intelligence (AI) | Most common job titles: Business Development Officer, Customer Experience Manager, Banker | Largest job functions: Sales, Finance, Customer Success and Support | About Sterling Bank: Sterling Bank is a financial institution that offers a wide range of banking services, including consumer and investment banking, trade finance and capital market activities. The bank also provides wholesale banking services to its customers.

See more about Sterling Bank | See people you may know at Sterling Bank

Interswitch Group is the parent company of Verve and others.

Most notable skills: Software Testing, Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Enterprise Software | Most common job titles: Software Engineer, Technical Support Engineer, Product Manager | Largest job functions: Engineering, Information Technology, Business Development | About Interswitch Group: Interswitch Group is an integrated payment and digital commerce platform operating across 23 countries in Africa. The company offers a range of products and services, including payment processing, card services, and digital commerce solutions.

See jobs at Interswitch Group | See people you may know at Interswitch Group

First Bank of Nigeria is the parent company of?First Pension Custodian Nigeria Ltd.?and others.

Most notable skills: Commercial Banking, Customer Service Systems, Capital Markets | Most common job titles: Business Development Officer, Customer Service Executive, Banker | Largest job functions: Finance, Customer Success and Support, Sales | About First Bank of Nigeria: First Bank of Nigeria is the oldest commercial bank in Nigeria dating back to 1894. The bank offers a wide range of financial products and services to individuals, businesses, and government institutions, including retail and corporate banking, treasury, and international banking.?

See more about First Bank of Nigeria | See people you may know at First Bank of Nigeria

Standard Chartered Bank is the parent company of Zodia Custody, Permata Bank and others.

Most notable skills: Commercial Banking, Investment Banking, Insurance | Most common job titles: Business Development Officer, Client Manager, Banker | Largest job functions: Finance, Sales, Business Development | About Standard Chartered Bank: Standard Chartered Bank has been operating in banking for more than 150 years. The company offers a range of financial products and services, including corporate and retail banking, wealth management, and investment banking.

See jobs at Standard Chartered Bank | See people you may know at Standard Chartered Bank

Most notable skills: Oil & Gas, Utilities, Drilling Engineering | Most common job titles: Managing Director, Accountant, Process Engineer | Largest job functions: Operations, Engineering, Business Development | About NNPC Limited: The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is responsible for the management and operation of the country's oil and gas resources with a focus on sustainable development.

See more about NNPC Limited | See people you may know at NNPC Limited

Most notable skills: Power Systems, Utilities, Computer Hardware | Largest job functions: Operations, Information Technology, Engineering | About Eko Electricity Distribution: Eko Electricity Distribution is a power distribution company in Lagos. The company specialises in delivering electricity solutions to businesses operating in the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as to government agencies.

See more about Eko Electricity Distribution | See people you may know at Eko Electricity Distribution

BAT is the parent company of Reynolds American Inc., Bentoel Group and others.

Most notable skills: Persuasion, Enterprise Software, Operational Efficiency | Most common job title: Trade Marketing Representative | Largest job functions: Operations, Sales, Business Development | About BAT: Headquartered in England, British American Tobacco (BAT) is a multinational tobacco company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco, and other nicotine products. The company is now shifting towards next-generation products, including e-cigarettes and heated tobacco.

See jobs at BAT | See people you may know at BAT

Most notable skills: Power Systems, Operational Efficiency, Utilities | Most common job titles: Salesperson, Customer Service Representative, Manager of Sales | Largest job functions: Sales, Operations, Customer Success and Support | About Ikeja Electric: Ikeja Electric is an electricity distribution company in Nigeria, servicing over 1 million customers across the Lagos metropolis. The company provides electricity supply to both residential and commercial customers.

See jobs at Ikeja Electric | See people you may know at Ikeja Electric

Most common job titles: Manufacturing Technician, Sales Manager, Salesperson | Largest job functions: Operations, Sales, Engineering | About Nestlé: Nestlé is a food and beverage company that manufactures and distributes a wide variety of products, including baby food, bottled water, breakfast cereals, coffee, tea, confectionery, dairy products, ice cream and frozen foods.

See jobs at Nestlé | See people you may know at Nestlé

ExxonMobil is the parent company of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN), Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd. (EEPNL) and others.

Most notable skills: Enterprise Software, Food Manufacturing, Retail | Most common job titles: Mechanical Technician, Project Manager | Largest job functions: Operations, Engineering, Information Technology | About ExxonMobil: ExxonMobil is a producer of crude oil and natural gas and is also involved in the production of petrochemicals and other specialty products. The US-based multinational operates in more than 50 countries worldwide.

See jobs at ExxonMobil | See people you may know at ExxonMobil

AB InBev is the parent company of Ambev, Grupo Modelo, Pabod Breweries Ltd (PBL), Beverage Management Services (BMS) and others.

Most notable skills: Robotics, Competitive Strategies, Electronic Control Systems | Most common job titles: Business Development Representative, Salesperson | Largest job functions: Operations, Sales, Engineering | About AB InBev: Anheuser-Busch InBev, or AB InBev, is a multinational drinks conglomerate headquartered in Belgium. They produce and distribute a wide range of beer and other alcoholic beverages across the world with a portfolio of popular brands including Budweiser and Corona. The company is also the parent company of Nigeria’s International Breweries Pl, which produces Trophy, Hero and Budweiser beer brands.

See jobs at AB InBev | See people you may know at AB InBev

Most notable skills: Commercial Banking, Debt Collection, Customer Service Systems | Most common job titles: Business Development Officer, Banker, Customer Service Officer | Largest job functions: Finance, Customer Success and Support, Sales | About UBA Group: United Bank for Africa (UBA) is a Pan-African financial institution that provides a range of financial products and services to individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises, and corporate clients. They also have a mobile banking app, which enables customers to carry out a range of transactions on their mobile devices.

See more about UBA Group | See people you may know at UBA Group

Most notable skills: Telecommunications, Power Systems, Maintenance & Repair | Most common job titles: Network Engineer, Network Operations Analyst, Business Operations Manager | Largest job functions: Information Technology, Operations, Engineering | About IHS Towers: IHS Towers is an independent mobile telecommunications infrastructure provider that builds, manages, and maintains telecommunications towers. This enables mobile network operators to expand their coverage and improve the quality of their services.

See jobs at IHS Towers | See people you may know at IHS Towers

SLB is the parent company of Gyrodata, Smith Bits, Zilift Limited and others.

Most notable skills: Oil & Gas, Drilling Engineering, Utilities | Most common job title: Mechanical Technician | Largest job functions: Operations, Engineering, Information Technology | About SLB: SLB, formerly known as Schlumberger, is a company that specialises in providing technology for the production, drilling and processing of oil and gas to the oil and gas industry. The company serves a diverse customer base that includes national and international oil companies, as well as independent operators.?

See jobs at SLB | See people you may know at SLB

Halliburton is the parent company of Summit ESP, Otis Engineering, Athlon Solutions, Halliburton Energy Services and others.

Most notable skills: Drilling Engineering, Oil & Gas, Earth Science | Most common job title: Petroleum Engineering Manager | Largest job functions: Operations, Engineering, Customer Success and Support | About Halliburton: Halliburton is a leader in providing products and services to the energy industry, with operations in more than 70 countries serving a diverse customer base of national and independent oil companies, as well as industrial and government clients. They provide services such as well testing, drilling, cementing, and more.

See jobs at Halliburton | See people you may know at Halliburton

Shell is the parent company of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company and others.

Most notable skills: Oil & Gas, Utilities, Drilling Engineering | Most common job titles: Petroleum Engineer, Project Manager, Mechanical Technician | Largest job functions: Operations, Engineering, Information Technology | About Shell: Founded in 1907, Shell is a multinational corporation that operates in the energy industry. They explore for and extract natural resources like oil and gas, and refine these resources into various products, including fuel for transportation and energy for homes and businesses.

See jobs at Shell | See people you may know at Shell

TotalEnergies is the parent company of TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited (TEPNG), TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria Plc (TMNPLC) and others.

Most notable skills: Oil & Gas, Drilling Engineering, Utilities | Most common job titles: General Manager, Health Safety Environment Supervisor | Largest job functions: Operations, Engineering, Information Technology | About TotalEnergies: TotalEnergies is a global energy firm that specialises in the production and sale of various sources of energy such as biofuels, oil, green gases, natural gas, and electricity. In addition, the corporation is investing in alternative energy sources like solar and wind power.

See jobs at TotalEnergies | See people you may know at TotalEnergies

Tropical General Investments (TGI) Group is the parent company of Union Bank of Nigeria, Nutridor, Chi Farms, Cormart and others.

Most notable skills: Payroll Services, Enterprise Software, Product Testing | Most common job titles: Sales Manager, Sales Executive | Largest job functions: Sales, Operations, Quality Assurance | About Tropical General Investments (TGI) Group): Tropical General Investments (TGI) Group is a company that operates in different industries such as fast-moving consumer goods, agriculture, and energy. TGI's FMCG subsidiary, TGI Distri, is a leading distributor of food and household products in Nigeria, serving over 100,000 retail outlets.

See jobs at Tropical General Investments (TGI) Group | See people you may know at Tropical General Investments (TGI) Group

Most notable skills: Enterprise Software, Affiliate Marketing, Inventory Management | Most common job titles: Customer Service Representative, Inventory Manager | Largest job functions: Operations, Sales, Customer Success and Support | About Konga Group: Konga is a Nigerian e-commerce company that offers a wide range of products, including electronics, fashion, beauty and personal care, home and kitchen appliances, and more.?

See jobs at Konga Group | See people you may know at Konga Group

Most notable skills: Telecommunications, Computer Networking, Software Testing | Most common job titles: Telecommunications Engineer, Network Engineer, Maintenance Engineer | Largest job functions: Engineering, Information Technology, Operations | About Huawei: Huawei is a Chinese-based, multinational technology company specialising in telecommunications equipment and consumer electronics. They produce a range of products including smartphones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches, and home devices. They also provide services such as cloud computing and digital transformation solutions for businesses.

See jobs at Huawei | See people you may know at Huawei

Most notable skills: Commercial Banking, Robotics, Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) | Most common job titles: Business Development Officer, Banker, Bank Manager | Largest job functions: Finance, Customer Success and Support, Sales | About Wema Bank: Wema Bank is a Nigerian commercial bank that provides a wide range of banking products and services to individuals, SMEs, and large corporations. The bank offers personal and business accounts, loans, investment products, and digital banking services like mobile banking, internet banking, and USSD banking.

See jobs at Wema Bank | See people you may know at Wema Bank

Most notable skills: Procurement, Inside Sales, Time Management | Most common job titles: Courier, Operations Supervisor, Service Advisor | Largest job functions: Operations, Sales, Customer Success and Support | About Deutsche Post DHL Group: Deutsche Post DHL Group – known as DHL – offers a comprehensive range of local and international parcel and express services, freight transport and supply chain management services.

See more about Deutsche Post DHL Group | See people you may know at Deutsche Post DHL Group

Most notable skills: Telecommunications, Competitive Strategies, Customer Service Systems | Most common job titles: Retail Sales Coordinator, Customer Service Representative, Customer Experience Manager | Largest job functions: Sales, Customer Success and Support, Information Technology | About 9mobile: 9mobile is a telecommunications operator that provides call and data services to customers across 16 countries.

See more about 9mobile | See people you may know at 9mobile

You can read more about how we compile the list at the bottom of the article — and you can also check out the Top Companies in?Australia, Austria, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark,?Egypt,?France, Germany,?India,?Indonesia, Ireland, Israel,?Italy,?Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands,?New Zealand,?Philippines, Portugal, Poland,?Singapore,?Saudi Arabia, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland,?Türkiye,?the UAE, the UK and the U.S.

Methodology

Our methodology uses LinkedIn data to rank companies based on eight pillars that have been shown to lead to career progression: ability to advance; skills growth; company stability; external opportunity; company affinity; gender diversity; educational background and employee presence in the country. Ability to advance tracks employee promotions within a company and when they move to a new company, based on standardised job titles. Skills growth looks at how employees across the company are gaining skills while employed at the company, using standardised LinkedIn skills. Company stability tracks attrition over the past year, as well as the percentage of employees that stay at the company at least three years. External opportunity looks at Recruiter outreach across employees at the company, signalling demand for workers coming from these companies. Company affinity, which seeks to measure how supportive a company’s culture is, looks at connection volume on LinkedIn among employees, controlled for company size. Gender diversity measures gender parity within a company and its subsidiaries. Finally, educational background examines the variety of educational attainment among employees, from no degree up to Ph.D. levels, reflecting a commitment to recruiting a wide range of professionals. Finally, employee presence in the country looks at the company’s number of employees in the country relative to other companies, as a means of capturing companies that provide a diverse work environment and more opportunities for career advancement and networking.?

To be eligible, companies must have had at least 500 employees as of Dec. 31, 2022 in the country and attrition can be no higher than 10% over the methodology time period, based on LinkedIn data. Similarly, companies with layoffs that amount to more than 10% of their workforce, based on public announcements between Jan. 1, 2022 and the list launch, are also ineligible. Only parent companies rank on the list; majority-owned subsidiaries and data about those subsidiaries are incorporated into the parent company score. The methodology time frame is Jan. 1, 2022 through Dec. 31, 2022. This analysis represents the world seen through the lens of LinkedIn data, drawn from the anonymised and aggregated profile information of LinkedIn's members around the world.

We exclude all staffing and recruiting firms, educational institutions and government agencies. We also exclude LinkedIn, its parent company Microsoft and Microsoft subsidiaries.

About company insights

*Company insights were sourced from LinkedIn Talent Insights and include the parent company and majority-owned subsidiaries. Data reflects aggregated public member data from active LinkedIn profiles in the relevant country and includes employee profiles associated with the parent company and majority-owned subsidiaries on LinkedIn. We exclude members who identify as interns or contractors. All insights reflect a 12-month time period looking back from January 2023. Skills data was derived from measuring the most frequent unique skills among a company’s employees, relative to other companies. Most common job titles represent the occupations that are most common within each company. Largest job function measures the function area most prevalent within each company.

Reported and proofread by: Winifred Okocha

Methodology and insights by: LinkedIn Economic Graph team

Managing Editor: Lynn Chouman , Solange Uwimana

Special Projects Leads: Marie Malzac (EMEA), Michele Pierri (International)

Regional Lead: Julien Wettstein

International Executive Editor: Sandrine Chauvin

Honouree companies: 1. EY | 2. MTN | 3. Sterling Bank | 4. Interswitch Group | 5. First Bank of Nigeria | 6. Standard Chartered Bank | 7. NNPC Limited | 8. Eko Electricity Distribution | 9. BAT | 10. Ikeja Electric | 11. Nestlé | 12. ExxonMobil | 13. AB InBev | 14. UBA Group | 15. IHS Towers | 16. SLB | 17. Halliburton | 18. Shell | 19. TotalEnergies | 20. Tropical General Investments (TGI) Group | 21. Konga Group | 22. Huawei | 23. Wema Bank | 24. Deutsche Post DHL Group? | 25. 9mobile?