Co-op Bank Tops 11 Fastest Growing Companies in Kenya

Eleven Kenyan companies have featured on the list annual list of Fastest-Growing Companies published by Financial Times. Top among them are Cooperative Bank, M-Kopa, Quickmart Supermarket and KCB Bank.

The 2025 list has, once again, proved Kenya’s continued strength as Africa’s business and innovation hotspot. The annual ranking, compiled by the Financial Times in partnership with research firm Statista, tracks companies based on compound annual revenue growth between 2020 and 2023.

Others Kenyan companies featured among the fastest-growing companies include Victory Farms (agribusiness), Roam Electric (manufacturing), Serena Hotels (hospitality), Impax Business Solutions and Pan African IX Data (ICT).

For its part, Cooperative Bank of Kenya announced its first-ever interim of dividend Ksh1.00 per share, following a 12.3% increase in 2025 nine-month profit to Ksh21.6 billion after tax.

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The dividend declaration accompanied another strong performance for the lender, continuing a decade-long growth that has seen profits surge by 150% since 2015, when the bank recorded just Ksh8.62 billion in earnings.

Net interest income jumped 22.8% to Ksh45.3 billion, forming the bulk of the Sh67.4 billion total operating income.

The Financial Times Fastest Growing Companies 2025 edition features 130 companies from across Africa. South Africa and Nigeria dominate the list, accounting for more than half of the ranked firms, reflecting the advantage of larger domestic markets.

KCB Bank Group, on the other hand, has maintained its dominance as the biggest lender in East and Central Africa in terms of asset value, hitting Sh2.04 trillion in Q3, 2025.

QuickMart Supermarket, established in 2006 with its first branch in Nakuru, has since grown to 60 branches across 16 counties in Kenya, directly employing at least 5,000 people.

M-Kopa continues to expand by offering asset financing to low-income households with its growth highlighting how firms with strong local models can still achieve scale without operating in many countries.

Kenya’s presence stands out among smaller African economies and ranks alongside Mauritius and Morocco as one of the strongest contributors outside Africa’s two largest economies.

Even so, fintech and technology-driven businesses remain central to the list across the continent, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of all ranked firms. “These businesses scale faster because they require less capital than asset-heavy sectors such as manufacturing,” the report reads.

The ranking also exposes a key challenge facing Kenyan and regional firms. Expanding beyond home markets remains difficult due to fragmented regulations, currency risks and uneven infrastructure across Africa. Many of the highest-ranked companies operate mainly in their domestic markets rather than across the continent.

The report notes that investors favour scale. In 2024, fintech funding in Africa flowed mainly to Nigeria, Egypt and Kenya.

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