South Africa-listed 4Sight Holdings eyes Africa AI push after strong growth

South Africa-headquartered 4Sight Holdings is positioning itself as a key player in Africa’s AI economy, leveraging a “Cape to Cairo” strategy built around cloud, industrial technology and intelligent automation

Buoyed by strong FY26 results announced on Wednesday, 4Sight Holdings chief executive officer Tertius Zitzke outlined an ambitious vision to position the company at the centre of Africa’s enterprise AI adoption.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed tech firm, which operates through more than 1000 channel partners across Africa, the Middle East and Europe, says demand for cloud, industrial automation and AI-powered business systems is accelerating beyond South Africa into East, West and North Africa.

Zitzke told TechCabal in an interview on Wednesday that Africa is no longer a future AI opportunity, but a present one, despite uneven regulation, internet access and fragmented infrastructure.

“Africa is the next tech growth engine. The continent’s young population presents an opportunity for AI adoption and innovation,” he said.

The company says countries like Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and Ethiopia are already emerging as growth hubs, as businesses move from experimenting with AI to embedding it into day-to-day operations.

The 4Sight CEO emphasised that South Africa remained central to the strategy, serving as a launchpad for broader continental expansion. “Across smart mining, smart industry and smart manufacturing, we are enabling clients to transition from traditional operations to AI-led, cloud-first enterprises designed for resilience, efficiency and sustainable growth,” he said.

The company’s confidence comes on the back of robust financial results and the declaration of an ordinary cash dividend announced on Wednesday morning.

For the year ended February 28, 2026, 4Sight reported a 16.3% increase in revenue to R1.16 billion ($64 million), while operating profit surged 45.8% to R71.7 million ($4 million). Headline earnings per share climbed 46.1% to 10.732 cents, and the company declared a final dividend of 3 cents per share.

According to Group chief financial officer Eric van der Merwe, stronger margins were driven by improved revenue mix, lower operational costs and productivity gains linked to AI adoption internally.

“We embraced AI to boost output and make our existing resources more effective, and our headcount increased by just 50 employees during the period,” he said.

Performance was supported by gains across all four business verticals.

Its Business Environment (BE) cluster, which focuses on data and enterprise systems, delivered standout performance with a 15.5% rise in revenue and an 89% increase in profit before tax, fuelled by rising demand for structured data needed for AI implementation.

Operational Technology (OT), which services sectors such as mining and industrial operations, grew revenue by 7.1% despite softer mining conditions, while the Channel Partner (CP) division expanded strongly across the EMEA region, recording more than 20% revenue growth in dollar terms.

Nick Botha, 4Sight’s Chief Partner Officer, highlighted that the strongest African growth came from countries often overlooked in continental tech conversations.

“We have had triple-digit growth in markets such as Ethiopia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Namibia, Uganda, Ghana, Kenya and Zambia. The spread is quite wide. Africa is not one market,” he stated.

Kenya remains a strategic anchor for East Africa, he added, while Ghana and Nigeria lead in West Africa and Algeria and Egypt are focus areas in North Africa.