Nairobi — Insurance technology firm Turaco has been ranked among Africa's fastest-growing companies in the latest Financial Times ranking, as Kenyan firms continued to strengthen their presence on the continental list.
The report ranked 17 Kenyan companies among Africa's fastest-growing businesses, giving Kenya the second-highest number of firms after South Africa, which had 51 companies. Nigeria followed with 16 firms, ahead of Mauritius and Tunisia.
Turaco ranked 13th in Africa, while packaging company General Printers was placed at position 29.
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According to the Financial Times, Turaco's revenue rose to Sh963 million ($7.46 million) in 2024 from Sh189 million ($1.47 million) in 2021.
The company, founded in 2018 and headquartered in Kenya, provides insurance products integrated into services such as mobile phones, bank accounts and savings groups.
Turaco has since expanded operations into Uganda, Ghana, Zambia, Nigeria and Pakistan.
The ranking comes shortly after Cedrick Todwell joined the company as Director of Business Development to support expansion through new partnerships across Africa.
"Kenyan businesses improved their collective standing in a wide variety of sectors," the Financial Times report stated.
"Companies making the rankings range from Sun King, a sustainable energy provider, to General Printers, a packaging company, and Naivas, the supermarket chain."
M-Kopa ranked 62nd on the continent with a reported growth rate of 192 percent. Based on the 2024 data used in the ranking, the company posted revenues of Sh53 billion ($417 million) and employed 1,771 workers.
Kenya Airways ranked 67th with a growth rate of 168 percent after revenues increased to Sh180 billion in 2024 from Sh80 billion in 2021. The airline had 4,705 employees as of 2024, with the ranking linked to its turnaround strategy after years of losses.
Other Kenyan firms featured in the ranking include Carbacid Investments, Fourth Generation Capital Group, Kofisi Hospitality Group, Greenlight Planet-Sun King, KCB Group, Quickmart, Mic Global Risks, Impax Business Solutions, Kenya Power, Naivas, Co-operative Bank, Avenue Healthcare and Craft Silicon.
The Financial Times said qualifying companies were required to generate at least Sh12 million ($100,000) in revenue in 2021 and at least Sh193 million ($1.5 million) in 2024.
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The companies also had to be independent entities headquartered in African countries.
Across the continent, the top five fastest-growing firms were Technology Holding for Financial Investments of Egypt, Sabi Holdings of Nigeria, Regulus Investment and Financial Services of Ghana, Haul247 Technology Inc of Nigeria and Inkomoko Entrepreneur Development Ltd of Rwanda.
