The third edition of the Financial Times (FT) annual ranking of the fastest-growing companies is out with some new entrants, while others like Kenya’s Wasoko have dropped off the ranking.
South Africa and Nigeria have expanded their dominance with the latter having the largest share of startup tech companies that leverage technology to serve underserved markets.
The ranking uses a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to qualify companies. The companies that make it to the list are those that record the highest annual growth rate.
Nigeria’s Omniretail Inc, a B2B e-commerce firm that was founded in 2019, has been ranked the fastest growing company on the continent, followed by Kyosk Digital (Mauritius), Resourgenix Pty Ltd (South Africa), Moniepoint (Nigeria), and Afex Commodities Exchange Ltd (Nigeria).
Others are Chari.Co (Morocco), Enara Group (Egypt), Yellow Digital Retailers (Mauritius), Kentegra Biotechnology (Kenya) and HearX Group (South Africa).
The 125 companies listed braved a tough economy on the back of rising inflation, currency weakening, and high interest rates across major economies in the continent to post impressive growth.
South Africa and Nigeria extended a streak of dominance with 42 companies and 25 companies respectively. Kenya and Morocco each had 12 companies. Most of the top companies are those founded after 2010 and leveraging technology, highlighting the importance of tech in creating new models of operations.
“Nevertheless, there are other big hurdles for companies, over and above the sluggish macro-environment. Businesses frequently mention currency and regulator risk, and negative investor sentiment as a result of political and security upheavals — including in the coup-prone Sahel.”
FT report
Contents
Growth in revenues
To be included in the list of Africa’s fastest-growing companies, a company had to record at least $100,000 in revenues in 2019 and at least $1.5 million in 2022.
Omniretail grew 772.39% to hit $139.88 million in revenues, Kyosk 647.37% with $155.35 million, and Resourgenix Pty at 542.65% achieving $33.62 million in revenues.
Unlike in previous listings, the 2024 ranking included companies spread across Africa, attracting firms from different countries.
“This year, our ranking has a wider geographical spread of companies than before. The big newcomer is Morocco, with 12 companies in the top 125 against just three last time.”
FT said
Profiles of top 10 companies
The following are the companies that topped the list of the 125 fastest-growing firms on the continent:
1. Omniretail Inc.
OmniRetail is a consumer goods distribution platform that solves the inefficiencies of traditional trade by digitizing key stakeholders through its product distribution chain. The Nigeria company was founded in 2019 by Deepankar Rustagi.
2. Kyosk Digital
Kyosk is a Mauritian business-to-business (B2B) tech startup that provides a seamless and direct link between suppliers, traditional retailers as well as farmers, and local eateries. The company was founded in 2019 in Nairobi but relocated to tax haven Mauritius. Its investors include ETG and Mitsui and Co.
3. Resourgenix Pty Ltd.
Resourgenix is a South African-based talent resourcing company founded in 2019 by Graham Bentley and Grant Cameron-Smith. The company helps businesses source the right fit for different roles.
4. Moniepoint Inc.
Moniepoint is a global payments and banking platform with over 3 million businesses. The company was founded in 2015 and is the parent company of TeamApt Limited, a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) licensed Switch and Processor, and Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, a CBN-licensed Microfinance Bank.
5. Afex Commodities Exchange Ltd.
Nigeria’s Afex Commodities Exchange Limited provides commodity brokerage services. The Company develops and deploys a viable commodities exchange and supply chain infrastructure to support the securitization of agricultural products.
6. Chari.Co
The Chari mobile app allows retailers in Morocco to order a wide range of products at competitive prices while enjoying fast delivery. The company was founded in 2019.
7. Enara Group
Enara Group is an Egyptian integrated renewables group of service, development, and investment companies with a focus on PV, Wind, and green molecules operating across Egypt and East Africa. It has a total of 215MW of renewable power developed and under operation and a further 2GW+ of PV& Wind and 2Mt/Yr of Green molecules to be developed by 2030.
8. Yellow Digital Retailers Ltd.
Founded in 2018 in Mauritius, Yellow focuses on last-mile distribution of affordable PAYG solar home systems to low-income rural households.
9. Kentegra Biotechnology Epz Ltd.
Kentegra is a Nairobi-based biotechnology company specializing in the production of organic insecticide pyrethrum for home biocide, and agricultural and pharmaceutical pesticide markets. The company has been in operation since 2017.
10. HearX Group Pty Ltd.
Founded in 2016, HearX uses smart tech, artificial intelligence, and big data to build a suite of smart digital solutions to detect, diagnose, and treat hearing loss around the globe, allowing us to make cost-effective hearing, accessible to those who need it most.
