• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay invites Nigeria’s fast-growing companies to apply for Africa ranking

BusinessDay invites Nigeria’s fast-growing companies to apply for Africa rankings

The Financial Times (FT) and Statista are currently inviting companies based in Africa to register for recognition in the inaugural ranking of Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies. BusinessDay is a cooperation partner for the research – and therefore encourages companies from Nigeria to participate. It is also planned that a separate ranking with Nigeria’s Growth Champions will be published on businessday.ng.

Registration to be considered both for the Africa and Nigeria ranking is free of charge and the criteria are outlined here. The research wants to identify the companies with the highest revenue growth between 2017-2020. Companies with an average revenue growth rate of at least 8 percent annually in this period are encouraged to register.

This initiative of the Financial Times, the UK-based global business and economics daily, and Statista, the German-based data giant, is the first of its kind. It is supported by BusinessDay, West Africa’s provider of premium market and financial intelligence.

Ogho Okiti, Managing Director of BusinessDay, speaking on the cooperation said, “BusinessDay is delighted to support Statista and FT in their quest to identify the fastest growing companies on the continent. After all, it fits our journalistic mission to provide understanding of how the economy is evolving and the business landscape is shifting.”

Thomas Clark, Partner at Statista, expects mostly small and mid-sized companies to enter the ranking, with the vast majority of them being privately held instead of stock-listed. “The aim of this mega-research project is to identify the companies which serve as the accelerators for the economy – and while we are curious to see overall which companies in Africa belong to this group, I am particularly excited to see the Nigerian ones”, explains Clark, adding a personal note: “After all, one of my best friends from my days as a student is Nigerian and I am well aware that the country has changed a lot since those days in the 90s, with Nigeria now being the cradle for many impressive start-ups and vibrant mid-sized companies.”

The inaugural ranking of Africa’s fastest growing companies will be featured online on FT.com and in a special report, following similar rankings and reports produced for Europe, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region.

BusinessDay hopes that the ranking will turn into an annual edition, equally the envisioned list of Nigeria’s Growth Champions on businessday.ng.

In the last few years, African companies, especially those which are into the provision of financial and telecommunications services have seen expansion in their operations within and outside of their regions.

Read also: Nigerian fintechs walk tight rope after record funding

In addition, African fintech companies have attracted significant attention from investors in recent times. And according to Making Finance Work for Africa, as of the end of the third quarter of 2021, African fintech companies had raised $1.44 billion in 71 deals registered within the nine months ended September 2021.

Interestingly, the amount African fintech firms raised between January and September 2021 was higher than $1.06 billion raised between 2011 and 2020 by 35.8 percent. This means African fintech companies in nine months in 2021, surpassed a decade of their fundraising records.

The positive sentiment on growth is expected to continue in 2022 due to the moderate growth trajectory projected for the African continent next year. The International Monetary Fund projects a 3.8 percent economic growth rate for Africa in 2022, with the Sub-Saharan region expected to grow by 3.5 percent, supported by the rising commodity prices, further lifting of restrictions and increased vaccinations of their citizenry.

The proposed fastest African companies’ report, when completed, will showcase the firms responsible for driving economic growth, supporting job creation and poverty alleviation in many African countries.

The application process is for free and involves filling a questionnaire online, followed by the submission of a verification form signed by the CEO/Managing Director or the CFO/Finance Director of the applicant, confirming their revenues for 2017 and 2020. The form needs to be sent to [email protected].

All the details about the ranking and a list of FAQs can be found on Statista’s page www.statista.com/page/fastest-growing-africa.

The deadline to register is January 15, 2022.