South Africa and Nigeria dominate the list of 130 businesses, hinting at the difficulties entrepreneurs from smaller countries face in building a continental presence
The Financial Times’ ranking of the fastest-growing African countries, now in its fourth year, reveals two trends.
One is the prevalence of fintechs which, together with businesses in the IT and software sector, make up nearly 40 per cent of the top-ranked ones. The second is the outsized performance of Africa’s two biggest, albeit sluggish economies, South Africa and Nigeria, which account for well over half of the expanded list of 130 companies.
“Fintechs dominate the ecosystem,” says Mobola da-Silva, a partner at Capria Ventures, an early-stage technology venture capital firm specialising in the global south.
