Some 10 Kenyan firms, led by electric mobility company Roam, are in the list of Africa’s 130 fastest-growing, even as the country trails two of the continent’s biggest economies, Nigeria and South Africa.
Retail chain Quickmart, Serena Hotels, KCB Group and Co-operative Bank are also in the list dominated by firms dealing in goods and services with a high consumer demand.
Fifty companies are from South Africa and 28 from Nigeria, with the pair accounting for a combined share of more than half of the 130, reflecting the size and entrepreneurial depth of the two economies.
Nigeria and South Africa are significantly bigger than Kenya in terms of Growth Domestic Product and population, allowing local firms to grow faster without expanding to neighboring countries.
The list, compiled by research firm Statista and Financial Times tracks the compounded growth of the firms between 2020 and 2023. Roam’s annual revenues are 52 times less compared to the $120.15 million of the fastest-growing firm on the continent, Omniretail of Nigeria.
Firms in the technology and financial sector dominate the list of Kenya’s fastest growing companies, pointing to a huge demand in the sectors and ability to ride on technology to scale without facing significant capital costs.
“The future is bright for IT and fintech firms, largely because they have come up with innovative solutions which are highly scalable at minimal capital investments unlike the traditional businesses,” Bobby Gadhia, IT expert and founder and CEO of Anza Now, told this publication.
“Traditional businesses have become so competitive and margins are dropping and unlike IT or fintech, you cannot scale them up without incurring huge capital costs.”
