Kenya trails Nigeria, South Africa in Africa’s fastest-growing firms

Kenya had seven firms among the top 100 fastest companies, with Roam Electric AB—an assembler of electric buses in Nairobi’s industrial area—emerging top and 33 in the FT list.

Hotel firm TPS Easter Africa, which operates the Serena hotels, was second in Kenya and 41 in Africa, while fintech M-Kopa was ranked 68th on the continent and third in the country.

South African firms had 36 of the top 100 fastest-growing firms on the continent, while Nigeria had 28, giving the pair a combined 64 top spots.

The dominance of Nigeria and South Africa reflects the size and entrepreneurial depth of both economies.

More negatively, it also hints at how difficult it has been for companies from smaller countries to build a continental presence in what is still a highly fragmented landscape.

Stéphane Bacquaert, managing partner at Adenia, a private equity firm specialising in Africa, told the FT that the fragmentation of Africa’s 54 economies, many of them tiny by global standards, presented real hurdles.

“You deal with different currencies, different legal environments and, despite the political efforts to try to integrate the regions, the reality is that you don’t operate the same way in Côte d’Ivoire as in Senegal,” he says.

“Those are very two different markets, as are Kenya and Tanzania,” he adds, referring to East African neighbours with very different business environments.

Apart from banks, most Kenyan-founded businesses have largely operated within the borders, limiting themselves to a smaller geography and customer base.

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Nigeria and South African economies in contrast are larger by GDP and by population base, allowing homegrown firms to grow fast even without spreading their wings to new countries.

The screening process of the FT ranking, which requires senior executives to sign off on submitted figures, ensures that the list offers a meaningful snapshot and puts a focus on businesses not often in the spotlight.

Of the top three ranked companies which are all from Nigeria, only the second-Palmpay, a fintech and financial services provider, operates in more than three countries.

First placed Omniretail- a business to business enabling platform which also ranked top last year only has operations in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

The number of Kenyan firms listed among the top 100 fastest-growing businesses fell from 9 in 2024 to 7 this year, while the local businesses also saw a slip in ranking, losing out on top places.

Roam Electric AB was ranked 35th on the continent, while last year health care and life sciences firm, Kentegra Biotechnology, ranked the fastest among Kenya firms and ninth on the continent.

Lipa Later ranked at number 25 in last year’s ranking, while Quickmart was thirty-fourth.

Quickmart has in this year’s ranking slipped to while Lipa Later is out of top 100 after being placed in administration.

Fish dealer Victory Farms ranked in position 91 this year, from 80 previously, while fintech M-Kopa ranked 68 from 57 previously.

IT & Software firm Impax, meanwhile, ranked 82 this year from 78 in 2024.

The Financial Times ranking also highlights the difficult funding environment since the pandemic which has been mirrored by currency depreciation and difficulties in funding start-ups.

“Both the funding environment and the exit environment have been tough,” Vice-President at the Norwegian Investment Fund Ylva Lindberg said.

New Kenyan firms that joined the list of the top 100 fastest growing firms on the continent were Roam and Serena Hotels operator, TPS Eastern Africa.

Roam 2023 revenues were estimated at Sh298.5 million ($2.31 million), giving it a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 86.4 percent between 2020 and 2023.

Founded in 2017, Roam designs innovative public transport solutions, more so electric buses which serve as public service vehicles (PSVs).

The firm says its ranking as the fastest-growing business in Kenya shows the potential of local manufacturing amid the sluggish output from the sector in recent years.

“It shows that local manufacturing can thrive, creating jobs and delivering affordable, high-quality electric motorcycles made in Kenya, for Africa,” said Roam’s Field Operations Manager Habib Lukaya.

“We are building an industry, and with this momentum, we’re expanding our footprint to reach more riders and communities across the continent.”

Some of Africa’s fastest-growing firms have had to look outside the continent for growth, such as South Africa’s TymeBank, which is ranked 29 and has presence in the Philippines and Vietnam.

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