Kenya still dominates East Africa’s race for corporate growth, with a cluster of high-performing companies and startups pinning themselves on the chart of entrepreneurial dynamism and private sector resilience.
- •According to a recent ranking of Africa’s fastest-growing firms by the Financial Times, some of the Kenyan startups that were included are Roam, M-Kopa, and Victory Farms Ltd.
- •The business publication also ranked eight other Kenyan firms (that are not startups) including TPS Serena Hotels, KCB Group, Impax Business Solutions, Pan African IX Data Centres, East African Business Company, Kofisi Hospitality Group, Quickmart, and Co-operative Bank.
- •The list of 130 companies and startups across the continent was dominated by South African and Nigerian firms.
Roam, an EVs manufacturer based in Nairobi, grew by 86% in its Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) posting US$2.3 million in revenue in 2023. The startup, which was founded in 2017, was the highest ranked Kenyan firm at position 36.
At position 68, M-KOPA — a digital asset finance startup — posted 42% in annual revenue growth and US$252.61 million in 2023 revenue. Founded in 2011, M-KOPA has expanded its operations to Uganda, Nigeria, and Ghana.
Victory Farms saw a 26.9% revenue growth and has seen its revenue by 2023 surge to US$24.7 million. The Aquaculture startup founded in 2015 was ranked position 91 as it gears up to expand operations to other countries in the region.
Nigeria dominated the top three with Omniretail, PalmPay, and Remedial Health Ltd. In East Africa, Rwanda appeared in position 8 with the Fintech company — Inkomoko Entrepreneur Development.
Some of the challenges to entrepreneurial growth in Africa that the report pointed out include fragmented economies and business environments. This is in addition to the fact that today’s stellar growth does not translate to long-term survival.
Several African companies-such as Jumia, Gro Intelligence, and Wasoko- appeared in previous rankings, but have since dropped out or collapsed altogether.
