The State of African Business 2026: One Million Companies, Analysed

We analysed over 1,000,000 company records across 20 African registries: company formation across the registries we track has grown ~8× since 2000, only half of registered firms are active, and governments have awarded half a million public contracts. The data, and what it means.

Africa's formal economy is usually described with estimates and projections. This report uses records. Fylings maintains the largest open collection of African company data we know of, 1,006,104 company records across 20 national registries, and this is the first time we've stepped back to read the whole dataset at once. The picture that emerges is of a continent registering businesses faster than ever, formalising at scale, and, for anyone who has to trust these companies, carrying real risk that only shows up when you check the record. Here is what a million African company records actually say.

READ MORE: https://www.fylings.com/reports/state-of-african-business-2026