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Thursday, 12 May 2022

Karm Solar, EFG Hermes, GB Auto are among Africa’s fastest-growing companies, according to the FT

KUDOS-

Karm Solar has been named as one of Africa’s 20 fastest-growing companies in the Financial Times’ inaugural Africa edition of its ‘fastest-growing’ lists. The solar energy player placed #19 in the ranking after more than tripling its revenues between 2017 and 2020, making it the second-fastest growing energy company on the continent. Also representing Egypt on the list are Alexandria Pharma (#40), Arab Contractors (#54), EFG Hermes (#55), MM Group (#71) and GB Auto (#72).

Our friends at EFG Hermes released a statement (pdf) following the publication of the list: CEO Karim Awad said the bank’s inclusion demonstrated its “agility” and “success in achieving business growth.” The survey period covers the years during which EFG Hermes completed its transformation from an Egyptian investment bank into a leading frontier emerging markets financial services powerhouse with operations around the globe and a thriving Egyptian NBFS arm.

Egypt isn’t well represented on the list, with only six firms making the grade. By comparison, 24 South African firms and 20 Nigerian companies are featured.

Take the list with a cup or two of salt: Plenty of Egyptian companies grew much faster than, say, #75, Morocco’s Hightech Payment, which posted a revenue CAGR of just 8% in the survey period. Take Fawry: The Egyptian payments giant posted a revenue CAGR in the same period of nearly 42%, which would have placed it in the top 25 (presuming there were no other changes to the list). Hell, little old Enterprise would (on the basis of our consolidated financials) handily make the list as it stands.

So why are so few Egyptian companies represented here? Because more South African and Nigerian companies applied. The FT’s partner reached out by “post and email” to companies to ask them to participate by registering on a website. Those companies make up the majority of the list. The FT has chosen to include only 27 “high profile” publicly traded companies that didn’t apply, but that met its screening criteria.

MEANWHILE- More Egyptian success in Malmo: From Cairo won the documentary film jury prize award at the Swedish Malmo Arab Film Festival. Actor Mohamed Mamdouh won best actor at the festival earlier this week for his role in the film Abu Saddam.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.