The inaugural Financial Times (FT) annual ranking, which ranked ZEN Petroleum in 28th position among Africa’s Fastest-Growing Companies, provides a snapshot of the corporate landscape on a continent where technology, fintech and support-service businesses have had to adapt to a radically altered environment.
According to the FT ranking, the Ghanaian energy company recorded an absolute growth rate of 159.6%, while its Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) stood at 37.4% as against the 7.99% minimum CAGR required to be included in this year’s ranking.
The inaugural FT list was compiled with Statista, a research company, and ranks African companies by their CAGR in revenue between 2017 and2020. One of the areas where ZEN Petroleum ranked high is strong revenue performance. The company recorded significant revenues of US$418.8million in2020 compared with US$207.5 million in 2017.
The ranking lists 75 companies, ordered by the highest CAGR in revenues between 2017 and 2020, based on the criteria – including revenue of at least US$100,000 generated in 2017; revenue of at least US$1.5 million generated in 2020; being an independent company (not a subsidiary or branch office of any kind); and a company with operational headquarters located in one of the African countries.
The calculation of company growth rates is based on the revenue figures submitted by companies in their respective national currencies. The revenue figures are then converted into US dollars for better comparability in the ranking. According to the FT ranking, the average exchange rate for the financial year indicated by the company was used for this purpose.
The project
Additionally, the project was advertised online and in print, allowing all eligible companies to register online via Statista or the Financial Times between October 6, 2021 and February 15, 2022.
The process required submitted revenue figures to be certified by the chief executive, chief financial officer or an executive committee member of the company.
Following the application phase, Statista examined the officially stated revenue data of about 900 public companies in Africa. High-profile companies that met the criteria for inclusion were added to the list (27 in total).
The data was collected through research using official sources such as publicly available earning presentations, investor relations websites, or annual reports.
