FT’s 2026 Ranking shows Africa’s fastest-growing companies are doing more with less

The Financial Times’ fifth annual ranking of Africa’s fastest-growing companies continues to spring surprising results. On the ranking, Egyptian business tops the ranking for the first time, Kenya leapfrogs Nigeria into second place, and South Africa still dominates the list overall.

South African companies have consolidated their dominance in the Financial Times ranking of Africa’s fastest-growing businesses. They claimed no fewer than 51 of the 130 spots, a lead that remains unchanged. Yet beyond that familiar story, this year’s list is full of fresh surprises.

For the first time, an Egyptian business has topped the ranking. Kenya has leapfrogged Nigeria into second place in terms of national representation, with 17 top-ranked companies to Nigeria’s 16. Mauritius followed with 12, while Tunisia made its first appearance in the top five, contributing 6 companies to the list.

Also notable is the broadening profile of the companies featured. Several large, established businesses have joined the usual roster of fintechs and startups, signalling a maturing and diversifying competitive landscape across the continent.

The ranking was compiled by the research company Statista and measures the compound annual growth rate of revenues between 2021 and 2024. It is backward looking, so it does not account for the shock of the Middle East war. The war is likely to affect 2026 and beyond through higher fuel, fertiliser, and food prices, along with investor volatility that could hit emerging markets.

Funding doesn’t always translate to growth

The fastest-growing company in 2025, Thndr, achieved 6,852% YoY growth with only $15.7M in funding. Meanwhile, the most funded startup, MNT-Halan, raised $520.4M across debt and equity, 33x more capital, and didn’t make the list at all. Sabi, which ranked 2nd on the list, last raised capital in 2023.

This puts Thndr’s growth per dollar of funding at ∼437% per $1M raised. MNT-Halan’s is effectively 0% on the FT ranking. This is a stark reminder that capital buys reach, but not necessarily momentum.

However, part of the gap stems from the model. Thndr’s asset-light brokerage model converts user growth directly into revenue spikes. MNT-Halan’s lending model requires capital to sit on the balance sheet as loans, which fuels scale but not the kind of revenue growth FT tracks.

Last updated: May 12, 2026