The award
What we count, and how
18 categories across 5 sectors, awarded once a year at the ISF Forum Gala in Ibadan. This page sets out the criteria and the panel, so that a nomination can be written against them.
Origin
Why the award exists
African companies have been crossing borders for years, and almost none of it is written down anywhere a founder, an investor or a regulator can point to. League tables are built on funding rounds. Press coverage follows announcements. Neither measures whether a business actually operates in a second country.
The ISF Forum set up the Scale Without Borders Award to keep that record. It is not a prize for ambition and it is not decided by public vote. An entry is a claim, and the award is the process of checking it.
2026 is the inaugural edition. Winners join a permanent Hall of Distinction that will carry forward each year.
The four tests
What every entry is scored against
Evidence
Every claim is checked against company filings, funding records, regulator registers and market data. A figure that cannot be sourced is set aside, however impressive it reads.
Growth
Revenue, customers, headcount and markets, measured over the period claimed and read against the size of the business. A small company doubling counts for as much as a large one adding a market.
Depth abroad
A second market means a local entity, licence or team on the ground — not an export line. Depth in each market is weighted above the number of markets.
Durability
Results that survived a devaluation, a licence change or a funding winter. One strong year is not a record.
Judging
What happens to a nomination
01
Screening
Every nomination is read and verified by a regional screening panel. Entries in the wrong category are moved rather than rejected, where the criteria allow it.
02
Scoring
An independent panel drawn from investment, industry, academia and media scores the verified entries against the four criteria. Judges declare interests and stand down from any category where they hold one.
03
The envelope
Results are sealed until the ISF Forum Gala on 28 November 2026. Nothing is briefed to press, sponsors or nominees in advance.
The panel
Who decides
Judges serve for one edition, are not paid, and hold no commercial relationship with the categories they score.
David Adeleke
CEO, Zeeh
I am D A
LinkedIn
Closes 31 October 2026
Write it against the criteria
The strongest entries name the markets, the numbers and the source for each.