In the 2024 ranking of Africa’s fastest growing companies, compiled by Financial Times in collaboration with research company Statista, South Africa and Nigeria boasted the highest representation.
- South African companies dominated the list with 42 companies, followed by 25 Nigerian companies, and 12 companies each for Kenya and Morocco.
- OmniRetail, a Nigerian B2B e-commerce startup that enables small businesses to digitize their services, was listed as Africa’s fastest growing company registering an absolute growth rate of 66,294.88% and a compound annual growth rate of 772.39% since its foundation in 2019.
- Kyosk Digital from Mauritius took the second spot, followed by a South Africa’s Resourgenix Pty Limited which sealed the top three category.
- AFEX, a commodities exchange and commodities market player, ranks 5th on the 2024 list
- Kentegra Biotechnology Epz Ltd. was the only Kenyan company in the top ten of the list, with a compound annual growth rate of 189.77%.
The report titled ‘Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies 2024′ follows its third year assessing improvements and challenges facing enterprises after the COVID-19 economic turmoil. According to the IMF, African economies grew by slightly 3.2% last year because the continent’s biggest economies were undergoing inflation, forex crunches, and sectoral collapses.
Startups, which have always grown rapidly in Africa, experienced funding shortfalls by 46% last year thus affecting their growth trajectories.
Startups like Kenyan B2B, Wasoko, which was listed as the fastest growing company in the report’s first year, experienced closures in various countries last year until it eventually merged with Egyptian startup MaxAB.
“Nigeria, one of the continent’s three biggest economies, spent 2023 in economic crisis as prices spiralled upwards and the naira went into freefall. Nevertheless, it still had the second highest number of companies in our ranking of Africa’s fastest-growing, compiled in conjunction with research company Statista. South Africa, where growth has also been lacklustre, was home to the highest number,” the report said.
Unlike the previous years, the Financial Times expanded its focus on other companies that were not ideally startups. For this reason, Kenyan retail store Quickmart and Sasini Ltd. were also listed as fast growing companies.
Mauritius companies were lauded as rising stars in the continental growth pile. Compared to 2022 where only four companies appeared on the list, this year’s report indicates that the number has risen to nine. It may not be long before the little country with attractive tax incentives outranks rivals in the East African region.
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