One year on

Companies to Inspire Africa, 2017

This report is a follow up to London Stock Exchange Group’s ‘Companies to Inspire Africa’ 2017 report and seeks to highlight key activities of the nominated companies from 31 March 2017 to 29 December 2017.

Overview

There is clear evidence that the enterprises profiled are enjoying significant investment and growth, having collectively raised an additional $1.9 billion in new finance in the past year alone. They’re introducing different products, expanding into new markets and moving supply chains, goods and services across borders.

Highlights of the report include:

15 of the 75 companies obtained additional financing raising $1.9 billion in total
28 companies completed either a product, geographic or capacity expansion
21 companies entered into an alliance or joint venture
16 companies completed an M&A deal

Companies from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa are leading the way in spreading their African footprint beyond their borders. Financial services, consumer services and energy are the sectors where the most expansion took place.

Twenty-one companies featured in LSEG’s Companies to Inspire Africa 2017 report formed alliances and joint ventures in the past year. These include companies based in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, with industrial products and telecoms and technology being the dominant sectors.

Mergers and acquisitions continue to be a critical aid for growth. Of the 75 businesses analysed, 16 concluded M&A deals from a wide range of sectors including consumer services, financial services, healthcare and pharma, industrials, renewables, technology and transportation.

Organic growth through product and/or geographic expansion

In the past year, twenty-eight of the featured companies embarked on some type of expansion. This included moving into new geographies, introducing new product lines or increasing capacity.

Companies in sectors such as financial services, technology and retail are leading the way in geographic expansion and becoming truly pan-African. Businesses from Kenya, Nigeria, Morocco and South Africa have been leaders in spreading their African footprint beyond their borders.

Some notable expansions include:

South Africa-based AllLife Group expanded life insurance coverage to people living with HIV and diabetes.
Ethiopian-based Dashen Breweries, one of the largest brewing companies in Ethiopia, introduced a new brand, Balageru.
Fan Milk, together with its key investor, Danone, added production lines to its plant in Ghana.
Uganda based, Vital-Tomosi’s Dairy introduced milk production as part of its key activities.