The ranking was created through a complex procedure. Although the search was extensive, the list is not exhaustive as some companies did not want to make their figures public or did not participate for other reasons.
Statista identified thousands of companies in Africa as potential candidates for the ranking, through research in company databases and other public sources. These companies were invited to participate in the competition by post and email. The process required submitted revenue figures to be certified by the chief executive, chief financial officer or an executive committee member of the company.South Africa is the most represented country on the list , following Nigeria and Kenya . These are also the markets that have attracted the most venture capital and where unicorns and would-be unicorns have grown, the Financial Times said.
Precious metals group Northam Platinum was ranked as the fastest-growing company in South Africa , beating out financial services group Long4Life and fellow mining company Royal Bafokeng . South Africa’s largest company by market cap, Naspers, features 37th on the overall list.