Heirs Holdings Companies Make Financial Times Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies List
Three portfolio companies of Heirs Holdings—Heirs Life Assurance, Redtech, and Heirs General Insurance—have secured spots in the Financial Times Africa’s 2026 Fastest Growing Companies Ranking.
Published annually by the Financial Times in collaboration with Statista, this ranking highlights firms that demonstrate exceptional revenue growth, innovation, market expansion, and overall economic impact across Africa.
In this year’s ranking, Heirs Life Assurance emerged as the seventh fastest growing company with an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 147.85 percent. Redtech claimed the 32nd position with a CAGR of 69.66 percent, while Heirs General Insurance took the 41st spot with a CAGR of 60.02 percent. This recognition underscores the increasing strength of Heirs Holdings’ ecosystem and affirms the effectiveness of the group’s long-term investment strategy, which emphasizes innovation, financial inclusion, infrastructure development, and sustainable value creation throughout Africa.
Heirs Holdings noted that this achievement amplifies the impact of Africapitalism, a philosophy championed by chairman and founder Tony Elumelu. Africapitalism positions Africa’s private sector as a pivotal player in fostering economic transformation, business growth, and social development across the continent.
The organization is steadfast in its mission to advance and expand businesses across its holdings, with notable contributions in key sectors such as insurance, technology, payments, and financial services. Recently, Heirs Life Assurance and Heirs General Insurance introduced Nigeria’s first multilingual GenAI insurance assistant, placing the firm at the forefront of insurance innovations in Africa.
Promoting Inclusive Travel and Financial Solutions
In a landmark initiative, Heirs Holdings hosted the inaugural Heir Insurance Travel Festival, Nigeria’s first dedicated travel insurance festival. This event served as an important platform to advocate for fairer visa policies, enhanced bilateral agreements, and a more inclusive travel ecosystem for Africans.
In the fintech sector, Redtech has made significant strides, processing over $27 billion (37.2 trillion naira) in transactions—more than three times the amount processed by the end of 2024, which stood at over $8.9 billion (12 trillion naira). The company recently formed a strategic partnership with MoMo PSB and United Bank for Africa to broaden merchant payment access across Nigeria. In an ambitious rollout, over 55,000 RedPay POS terminals were deployed to merchants nationwide within just 16 months.
Strengthening Digital Financial Infrastructure
RedPay’s infrastructure now supports payments in five UEMOA countries—Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, and Senegal—thereby improving cross-border payment access and enhancing digital financial systems throughout West Africa.
The recognition by the Financial Times serves as a testament to African enterprises’ capacity to create globally relevant solutions while simultaneously driving innovation, inclusion, and economic transformation on a larger scale. As a leading Pan-African investment firm, Heirs Holdings maintains a diverse portfolio spanning financial services, power, healthcare, hospitality, real estate, and technology, all while remaining committed to transforming lives in Africa through strategic long-term investments.
