There are 33 South African firms on a list of Africa’s one hundred fastest growing companies in 2023. Fifteen of these are placed in the tech-centric categories including Fintech, IT & Software, as well as e-commerce.
The second edition of the Financial Times 100 Fastest Growing Companies in Africa for 2023 list is compiled by data company Statista. It is based on growth in organic revenue and featured companies are ranked according to the highest compound annual growth (CAGR) in revenues between 2018 and 2021.
The FT/Statista list “casts its gaze back to encapsulate a time of corporate dynamism at what was the height of the pandemic.”
According to qualification criteria, businesses must have generated a minimum CAGR of 7.89% within the stated period, and revenue of at least US$100 000 in 2018 and US$1.5-million in 2021. Eligible businesses have to be entirely independent (not a subsidiary or branch of any kind) and their headquarters must be located in Africa.
Cape Tow-based Deimos Cloud is the highest ranked IT & Software campany overall, in the #6 spot.
Other South African IT and software companies on the list are Bluesky Digital Solutions (12), Routed Hosting (31), Linkfields Innovations (38), Nclose (41), Entelect Software (45), Surtech Solutions (72), Electrum Payments (79), Cognition Holdings (90) and Opennetworks (100).
Two local e-commerce firm made it to the top 100, with Luxity in the #37 spot, followed by Iser in #47.
Within Media & Telecommunications, Naspers secured the #52 place and MTN Group #94.
Stephen Osler, co-founder and business development director of Nclose, comments the company is the only cyber security player on this list. It was launched in 2006 to address local cyber security needs, offering managed security services that solve the cyber security skills and resource constraints problems that businesses face. Olser says e company has grown at a rate of about 30% per annum to a turnover of R200-million and a100-strong team that includes cyber security experts, analysts and engineers.
Check which local companies from other sectors feature on the Financial Times 100 Fastest Growing Companies in Africa for 2023 list.
Share