SA boasts 33 of the 100 fastest-growing companies in Africa

A total of 33 South African companies made it into the Financial Times/Statista 2023 annual ranking of Africa’s 100 fastest growing companies, with cloud and software services provider Deimos Cloud the top-ranked local company. Its overall ranking put it in sixth position.

The ranking, the second time it has been done, was performed at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Financial Times ranking recognises companies that achieved significant growth over the preceding year, highlighting the most dynamic and successful businesses across the African continent.

Top companies

Two Nigerian companies were top of the latest list of the continent’s fastest growing companies.

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Abuja-based Afex Commodities Exchange – which provides brokerage and trade finance services for commodities such as maize, sorghum, cocoa and rice – is in first position.

Afex achieved a compound annual growth rate over three years of more than 500%.

Moniepoint Inc, a Lagos-based company that offers banking for small businesses, is ranked second with a compound annual growth rate over three years of more than 321%.

The third spot was taken by Kenya-based e-commerce company Sokowatch, with a compound annual growth rate over this period of 242%.

Deimos Cloud achieved a compound annual growth rate in this period of 177%.

Completing the top six South African companies on the ranking list were BlueSky Digital Solutions (12th), Northam Platinum Holdings (23rd), Vertice MedTech Holdings (28th), Impala Platinum Holdings (29th) and Routed Hosting (31st).

Some prominent South African companies were lower down the list.

These include African Rainbow Minerals (51), Naspers (52), Spur Corporation (65), Sea Harvest Group (76), Sygnia (77), Goldfields (81), Dis-Chem Pharmacies (91), MTN Group (94) and Exxaro Resources (98).

JSE-listed Caxton & CTP Publishers, Printers and Distributors subsidiary Cognition Holdings was ranked 90th with a compound annual growth rate over three years of 13.54%.

The Financial Times said that as in the ranking’s inaugural year, Covid-19 appears to have accelerated the move online, with companies providing digital services in finance, payments, trade facilitation and healthcare all making headway.

Potential of African start-ups noticed

“It also seems to have been the time in which Silicon Valley investors, as well as those in Asia and Europe, discovered potential in the African start-up scene, particularly in the tech hubs of Lagos, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Cairo,” it said.

To feature in the ranking companies had to meet a number of criteria, including:

• Revenue of at least US $100 000 generated in 2018;
• Revenue of at least US $1.5 million generated in 2021;
• Be an independent company and not a subsidiary or branch office of any kind;
• Have its operational headquarters located in one of the African countries; and
• For revenue growth between 2018 and 2021 to have been primarily organic, in other words ‘internally’ stimulated.

Deimos CEO Andrew Mori said the company’s impressive performance in the latest ranking is a testament to its unwavering commitment to providing innovative cloud and software services to businesses across Africa.

“At Deimos, we believe in constantly pushing boundaries and setting new standards in our industry,” he said. “This recognition is a testament to our commitment to delivering innovative solutions to our clients.”

This article originally appeared on Moneyweb and was republished with permission. Read the original article here.

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