- Revenue Rankings Reveal a Divided Year for Nigeria’s Listed Technology Firms
Omatek Ventures has recorded the fastest revenue growth among nine selected technology and telecommunications companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange, with sales rising 650 per cent in the nine months to September 2026.
Yet the striking percentage says little on its own about the company’s commercial scale: revenue climbed from just N200,000 to N1.5 million, while the group recorded a loss of N47.15 million.
The contrast captures the central lesson of this year’s rankings. Growth rates can signal momentum, but they do not show how large a business is, whether it is converting sales into profit or whether it is generating cash. On those measures, the companies’ latest results tell markedly different stories.
The comparison covers businesses in telecommunications, payments, internet services and IT infrastructure. Seven reported results for the nine months to September, Airtel Africa reported a six-month period to September, and Legend Internet’s latest figures cover the 12 months to July.
Airtel’s results are in US dollars and reflect its operations across several African countries. The periods, currencies and business models therefore limit direct comparisons.
Omatek’s 650 per cent increase is the most dramatic figure, but it is also the clearest example of the base effect. Adding N1.3 million to revenue that began at N200,000 produces an exceptional percentage increase without creating meaningful scale.
Administrative expenses reached N48.35 million, leaving the company with an operating loss of N47.15 million, compared with N12.43 million a year earlier. The company’s NGX-filed statement confirms the revenue figures and loss.
At the other end of the scale sits MTN Nigeria, whose revenue rose 23.6 per cent to N4.61 trillion. That increase amounted to about N882 billion in additional revenue, far exceeding the entire sales base of several smaller companies in the ranking. Data was the main growth engine: revenue from the service rose 35.8 per cent to N2.68 trillion, while voice revenue increased 11.1 per cent to N1.50 trillion.
The company also reported growth in active data users, which reached 57.2 million, and total subscribers, which rose to 94.7 million. Profit after tax increased 55.3 per cent to N1.17 trillion, outpacing revenue growth.
This suggests the company achieved both expansion and stronger earnings during the period. Still, the figures describe a large, established telecom operator; they cannot be read as a like-for-like measure against small technology firms.
Airtel Africa’s reported revenue increased 28.2 per cent to US$3.82 billion in the six months to September. The reported figure, however, reflects exchange-rate movements as well as business performance: growth was 20.8 per cent in constant currency.
Data revenue rose 35.3 per cent and mobile money revenue 34.8 per cent, while profit after tax increased 20.5 per cent to US$452 million.
The distinction between reported and constant-currency growth matters in a region where exchange-rate changes can reshape the appearance of a multinational’s performance.
NCR Nigeria and CWG follow the leading multinationals with revenue growth of 29.3 per cent and 29.1 per cent respectively. Their close headline rates conceal different patterns in profitability and cash generation.
NCR’s revenue rose to N1.94 billion from N1.50 billion, while gross profit increased 65.6 per cent to N533.1 million. Profit after tax almost doubled to N473.6 million. But operating cash flow turned negative at N118.3 million, compared with a positive N1.21 billion in the previous period.
That divergence does not erase the earnings improvement, but it raises a practical question for investors: how much of the reported profit is being converted into cash available to run and grow the business?
CWG’s revenue grew to N63.15 billion from N48.94 billion, supported by its IT infrastructure, software, managed services and platform businesses. Yet its cost of sales rose faster than revenue, climbing 36.9 per cent to N50.37 billion.
Gross profit increased only 5.2 per cent, to N12.78 billion, and profit for the period fell to N4.18 billion from N4.75 billion. Rapid growth in sales, in this case, did not produce stronger bottom-line earnings.
That same gap between revenue and earnings appears elsewhere. Chams Holding reported revenue growth of 16.6 per cent to N15.69 billion and a 56.1 per cent increase in profit after tax.
But operating profit fell 30.8 per cent to N881.1 million as administrative expenses rose. Finance income of N784.5 million, compared with N18.1 million a year earlier, supported the higher net profit.
Investors assessing the underlying business will want to distinguish earnings from operations from gains generated through financing and other non-core lines.
Smaller listed firms offer a more mixed picture. Briclinks Africa’s revenue rose 11.5 per cent to N451.2 million, while profit after tax increased 76.9 per cent to N54.7 million.
eTranzact’s revenue grew a more modest 4.4 per cent to N20.99 billion, but its gross profit declined 4.7 per cent and profit after tax fell 42.7 per cent to N1.38 billion.
Legend Internet recorded a 7.4 per cent fall in revenue to N1.10 billion. The spread illustrates how higher sales can coexist with rising costs, weaker margins or shrinking earnings.
The rankings should therefore be read as a starting point for analysis rather than a verdict on which company is strongest. Revenue growth is useful: it can point to expanding demand, new customers or successful services.
But the rate alone rewards a low starting base and can obscure currency effects, uneven reporting periods and the cost of producing each additional naira of sales.
A fuller assessment asks four questions: how much revenue was added in absolute terms; whether gross margins improved; whether operating profit and net profit followed sales upward; and whether cash flow supports the earnings. The answers differ sharply across the group.
MTN Nigeria combines very large scale with stronger profits; Airtel’s reported expansion moderates when adjusted for currency; CWG and eTranzact face pressure between sales and profits; NCR’s improved earnings came alongside weaker operating cash flow; and Omatek’s striking growth began from a negligible base and left it deeply loss-making.
For investors, the more consequential contest may not be for the highest percentage but for durable, profitable growth.
Telecom demand and digital services continue to create room for expansion, but companies must demonstrate that additional sales can withstand operating costs, investment needs and currency volatility.
In this market, the fastest-growing company on paper may not be the one creating the most economic value.
