Nigerian Companies Lose Ground In Key Africa Ranking As Revenues Suffer

Nigerian businesses have lost ground in the latest Financial Times ranking of Africa’s fastest-growing companies, a fall driven by the currency devaluation that President Bola Tinubu initiated in 2023, according to the report published on Tuesday.

The FT list, compiled with research firm Statista, measures compound annual revenue growth between 2021 and 2024. For companies that report in local currencies, Statista converts figures to US dollars using year-end exchange rates. The sharp decline of the naira during that period depressed dollar equivalent revenues for Nigerian firms, pushing many down or off the ranking altogether.

“We are putting the breaks on our Nigerian investments,” Lexi Novitske, general partner at Norrsken22, an Africa-focused tech growth fund based in Lagos, told the FT. Novitske said the fund has increasingly turned its attention to Egypt and South Africa.

The start of a new presidential election cycle in 2026, continued uncertainty about naira stability, and concerns that the government is squeezing businesses too hard are damaging investor confidence, she added. “The macro factors are better, but a business has to realise returns, and sometimes the government doesn’t seem to understand that.”

South Africa dominated the 2026 ranking with 51 companies on the list of 130 fastest-growing businesses. Kenya overtook Nigeria for the second spot with 17 entries, followed by Nigeria with 16, Mauritius with 12 and Tunisia with six, a first-time appearance in the top five.

Egyptian fintech Thndr topped the list for the first time. The company offers broking services to a poorly-served mass market and has acquired 1 million active users, many investing for the first time. Fintech, IT and software businesses made up nearly 40 percent of the list, though manufacturing companies represented the third-largest sector.

The ranking measures revenue growth only, not profitability or job creation. The minimum compound annual growth rate required for inclusion this year was 9.27 percent. The list does not account for the shock of the Middle East war, which the International Monetary Fund has said could ripple through 2026 in the form of higher fuel and food prices.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP grew 4.5 percent in 2025, but the IMF downgraded its 2026 forecast by 0.3 percentage points to 4.3 percent. For Nigeria, the path back up the ranking may depend on whether the economy stabilises and the strain on businesses eases long enough to rebuild investor confidence.