The Financial Times and data company Statista have published their inaugural ranking of Africa’s fastest-growing companies, with several major South African firms included on the list.
The companies were ordered by the highest compound annual growth (CAGR) in revenues between 2017 and 2020.
The ranking was created through a complex procedure. Although the search was extensive, the list is not exhaustive as some companies did not want to make their figures public or did not participate for other reasons.
Statista identified thousands of companies in Africa as potential candidates for the ranking, through research in company databases and other public sources. These companies were invited to participate in the competition by post and email.
The process required submitted revenue figures to be certified by the chief executive, chief financial officer or an executive committee member of the company.
South African companies
South Africa is the most represented country on the list (24), following Nigeria (20) and Kenya (9). These are also the markets that have attracted the most venture capital and where unicorns (companies valued at $1 billion+) and would-be unicorns have grown, the Financial Times said.
Precious metals group Northam Platinum was ranked as the fastest-growing company in South Africa (10th on the continental list), beating out financial services group Long4Life (12th) and fellow mining company Royal Bafokeng (14th). South Africa’s largest company by market cap, Naspers, features 37th on the overall list.
| Company name | Sector | Absolute growth rate | Compound annual growth rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northam Platinum Ltd. | Precious Metals | 331.7% | 62.8% |
| Long4Life Ltd. | Financial Services | 304.9% | 59.4% |
| Royal Bafokeng Platinum Ltd. | Precious Metals | 282.4% | 56.4% |
| eAdvance Pty Ltd. (SPARK Schools) | Education | 276.3% | 55.5% |
| Yoco Technologies Pty Ltd. | Fintech | 267.4% | 54.3% |
| Stor-Age Property REIT Ltd. | Support Services | 158.0% | 37.2% |
| Entelect Software Pty Ltd. | Technology | 148.8% | 35.5% |
| Purple Group Ltd. | Financial Services | 118.3% | 29.7% |
| Anglo American Platinum Ltd. | Precious Metals | 109.8% | 28.0% |
| Sea Harvest Group Ltd. | Food & Beverage | 105.3% | 27.1% |
| Naspers Ltd. | Media | 98.8% | 25.7% |
| Sygnia Ltd. | Financial Services | 98.4% | 25.7% |
| Leatt Corp. | Retail | 91.7% | 24.2% |
| The Training Room Online | Education | 85.6% | 22.9% |
| Iser Pty. Ltd. (Expert Stores) | Retail | 73.5% | 20.2% |
| hearX Group Pty Ltd. | Technology | 70.1% | 19.4% |
| Afrimat Ltd. | Precious Metals | 65.8% | 18.4% |
| Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. | Precious Metals | 50.0% | 14.5% |
| Cognition Holdings Ltd. | Technology | 46.0% | 13.5% |
| Transaction Capital Ltd. | Financial Services | 44.4% | 13.0% |
| Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. | Precious Metals | 43.3% | 12.8% |
| Gold Fields Ltd. | Precious Metals | 40.9% | 12.1% |
| Zulu Lounge SA Pty Ltd. | Personal & Household Goods | 29.8% | 9.1% |
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