Africa's fastest growing companies 2023: A look at the top 100 companies

Kenya's capital, Nairobi City

• FT/Statista 2023 annual ranking of Africa’s fastest-growing companies highlights sectors including fintech, renewable energy, healthcare, commodities, and agriculture.
• COVID-19 accelerated the move online, with companies providing digital services in finance, payments, trade facilitation, and healthcare all making headway.
• The list was compiled with Statista, ranking companies by their compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in revenue between 2018 and 2021.

The recent annual ranking of Africa's fastest-growing companies by the Financial Times and Statista for 2023 reveals that companies in various sectors were able to develop their businesses even as the world shut down due to the pandemic. The ranking, now in its second year, shows that sectors such as fintech, renewable energy, healthcare, commodities, and agriculture were able to grow their businesses while much of the world was grappling with the pandemic's impact

The report highlights that COVID-19 seems to have accelerated the move online, with companies providing digital services in finance, payments, trade facilitation, and healthcare all making headway. It also notes that Silicon Valley investors, as well as those in Asia and Europe, have discovered the potential in the African start-up scene, particularly in the tech hubs of Lagos, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Nairobi, and Cairo.

According to San Francisco-based tech and digital investment platform Partech, African tech start-ups raised $5.2bn in 2021, three times more than the previous year, indicating the growing interest and investment in the African start-up ecosystem. The report also shows that African companies are gaining attention from international investors, leading to increased valuations.

Microsoft's Africa development centre in Lagos Nigeria

The top two fastest-growing companies in Africa are from Nigeria. Afex Commodities Exchange, based in Abuja, offers brokerage and trade finance services for commodities such as maize, sorghum, cocoa, and rice, and recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over three years of more than 500 per cent, putting it in first place. Lagos-based Moniepoint, which provides banking services for small businesses, rates second, and was an early funder of venture capital group Novastar.

L-R: Tosin Eniolorunda, Co-founder/CEO Moniepoint Inc.; Felix Ike, Co-founder/CTO Moniepoint Inc.

Kenya's Wasoko, which headed the list the previous year, comes in third place. The e-commerce company helps small traders access inventory through more efficient supply chains in seven African countries.

Start-ups dominate the list, but more established companies in metals and mining, telecoms, and construction also make the top 100. The fintech, IT, and software sectors are important, but a noticeable feature of the top 100 is the sheer variety of corporate activity. The fastest-growing companies include a Namibian winery, a Kenyan fish farm, a South African company that conducts remote hearing tests, and renewable energy companies in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone.

Rank	Company Name	Brand	Country	Sector	Absolute growth rate (%)	Compound annual growth rate (CAGR, %)	Revenues 2021 ($mn)	Revenues 2018 ($mn)	Number of employees 2021
1	AFEX Commodities Exchange Ltd.	AFEX	Nigeria	Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing	22,076.31	505.289	102	0.5	278
2	Moniepoint, Inc. (formerly TeamApt, Inc.)	Moniepoint	Nigeria	Fintech, Financial Services & Insurance	7,372.70	321.204	62.6	0.8	538
3	Sokowatch Ltd.	Wasoko	Kenya	E-commerce	3,901.40	242.035	136.9	3.4	1,490
4	Altech	Altech	Democratic Republic of Congo	Energy & Utilities	3,017.43	214.726	17	0.5	4,000
5	The Africaworks Group of Companies	Africaworks	Mauritius	Real estate	2,314.43	189.027	6.8	0.3	105
6	Deimos Cloud Pty Ltd.	Deimos	South Africa	IT & Software	2,029.62	177.184	9.5	0.5	68
7	Daystar Power Group	Daystar Power	Mauritius	Energy & Utilities	954.621	119.297	6.4	0.6	130
8	Sankore Ltd.	Sankore	Nigeria	Fintech, Financial Services & Insurance	810.692	108.829	16.6	1.8	71
9	Easy Solar Ltd.	Easy Solar	Sierra Leone	Energy & Utilities	792.83	107.455	7.2	0.8	264
10	Chari. Ma	Chari	Morocco	E-commerce	642.609	95.098	1.8	0.2	110
11	Globe Medex For Trade And Distribution	Globe Medex	Egypt	Healthcare & Life Sciences	642.488	95.088	2	0.3	12
12	Bluesky Digital Solutions Pty Ltd.	Bluesky	South Africa	IT & Software	636.649	94.575	11.1	1.7	149
13	Africa Healthcare Network	Africa Healthcare Network	Kenya	Healthcare & Life Sciences	618.437	92.958	5.4	0.7	272
14	Achill Island Investments Pty Ltd.	Achill	Namibia	Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing	578.639	89.327	9.8	1.6	115
15	Victory Farms Ltd.	Victory Farms	Kenya	Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing	563.023	87.864	17.3	2.8	563
16	Lipa Later Ltd.	Lipa Later	Kenya	Fintech, Financial Services & Insurance	525.803	84.28	3.5	0.6	25
17	Alpha Morgan Capital Managers Ltd.	Alpha Morgan Capital	Nigeria	Fintech, Financial Services & Insurance	508.477	82.564	8.6	1.6	59
18	Neveah Ltd.	Neveah	Nigeria	Logistics & Transportation	442.931	75.758	14.8	3.1	25
19	Al Karm For Solar Energy S.A.E.	Karmsolar	Egypt	Energy & Utilities	442.646	75.727	5.1	0.8	102
20	Bluecamp Ltd.	Bluecamp	Nigeria	Construction & Engineering	442.585	75.721	3.4	0.7	12
21	Poa Internet Kenya Ltd.	Poa Internet	Kenya	Media & Telecommunications	409.044	72.022	1.5	0.3	86
22	Veritasi Homes And Properties Ltd.	Veritasi Homes	Nigeria	Real estate	357.195	65.972	48.3	11.8	32
23	Northam Platinum Holdings Ltd.	Northam Platinum	South Africa	Metals & Mining	332.02	62.868	2,117.20	587.5	18,288
24	Comercio Partners Ltd.	Comercio Partners	Nigeria	Fintech, Financial Services & Insurance	322.152	61.618	3.8	1	35
25	Silverlands Vineyards Pty Ltd.	Silverlands Vineyards	Namibia	Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing	311.785	60.284	13.3	3.5	134
26	Zambia Seed Company Ltd.	Zamseed	Zambia	Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing	282.466	56.386	12.8	5.9	166
27	Tropical General Investments Ltd.	TGI Africa — Foods	Nigeria	Food & Beverages	273.357	55.134	542	162.2	4,557
28	Vertice Medtech Holdings Pty Ltd.	Vertice Medtech	South Africa	Healthcare & Life Sciences	262.693	53.643	78.4	23.7	589
29	Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd.	Implats	South Africa	Metals & Mining	261.396	53.46	8,408.30	2,789.20	43,820
30	Talenteum Africa	Talenteum. Com	Mauritius	Employment Services	258.552	53.056	4	1.1	200
31	Routed Hosting Pty Ltd.	Routed Hosting	South Africa	IT & Software	247.84	51.516	24.9	7.1	5
32	Kawai Technologies Ltd.	Kawai Technologies	Nigeria	Logistics & Transportation	241.465	50.585	6.7	2.2	10
33	Sibanye Stillwater Ltd.	Sibanye Stillwater	South Africa	Metals & Mining	239.925	50.358	11,641.70	3,823.50	84,981
34	Paga Group Ltd.	Paga	Nigeria	Fintech, Financial Services & Insurance	238.072	50.085	59.1	19.5	230
35	Copia Global, Inc.	Copia	Kenya	E-commerce	236.929	49.915	30.1	8.9	659
36	Herholdt’S Group Pty Ltd.	Herholdt’S Group	South Africa	Energy & Utilities	230.403	48.941	100.6	34	201
37	Luxity Pty Ltd.	Luxity	South Africa	E-commerce	229.477	48.802	1.9	0.6	24
38	Linkfields Innovations Pty Ltd.	Linkfields Innovations	South Africa	IT & Software	220.67	47.464	4.7	1.6	119
39	Foodco Nigeria Ltd.	Foodco	Nigeria	Retail	203.837	44.837	24.2	8.9	785
40	Leatt Corp.	Leatt	South Africa	Retail	197.126	43.763	72.5	24.4	98
41	Nclose Pty Ltd.	Nclose	South Africa	IT & Software	191.798	42.898	9.6	3.7	71
42	Purple Group Ltd.	Purple Group	South Africa	Fintech, Financial Services & Insurance	191.64	42.873	13.5	5.4	NA
43	Fourth Generation Capital Ltd.	4G Capital	Mauritius	Fintech, Financial Services & Insurance	186.536	42.034	17.3	6	541
44	Suez Canal Bank S. A. E	Scbank	Egypt	Fintech, Financial Services & Insurance	180.367	41.008	208.2	65.5	1,411
45	Entelect Software Pty Ltd.	Entelect	South Africa	IT & Software	180.088	40.961	82.8	31.9	1,033
46	Cairo For Investment And Real Estate Development	Cira Education	Egypt	Education & Social Services	168.716	39.027	88.6	29.2	4,263
47	Iser Pty Ltd.	Expert South Africa	South Africa	E-commerce	165.391	38.451	120	53.4	126
48	Hearx Group	Hearx	South Africa	Healthcare & Life Sciences	160.523	37.599	2.7	1	112
49	Pan African Resources Plc	Pan African Resources	South Africa	Metals & Mining	152.727	36.212	368.9	146	NA
50	M-Kopa Holdings Ltd.	M-Kopa	Kenya	Fintech, Financial Services & Insurance	144.922	34.796	142.9	58.3	2,028

It is worth noting that many fast-growing companies are privately held and do not publicly disclose detailed financial data, making this ranking an exercise in approximation. The screening process, which requires senior executives to sign off on the figures submitted by their companies, adds credibility to the ranking, which offers a helpful guide to the companies and sectors that are managing to do business in a complex and fast-changing environment.

This year's ranking reflects a time of significant changes and opportunities for African businesses. The pandemic has accelerated the shift to digitalisation, and companies providing digital services in finance, payments, trade facilitation, and healthcare have made remarkable progress.