There are negative indications that the ongoing economic, social and political uncertainty in the world is a perennial worry for CEOs globally, including those in Africa.
At least 25 percent of them believe that the global economy will decline over the next 12 months, according to an annual survey results from a survey of 83 CEOs across 19 African countries, including Nigeria.
African business leaders are less optimistic about the strength of the global economy and their organisations’ ability to grow revenues in both short and medium-term than they were a year ago.
These are some of the key findings from the seventh edition of PwC’s Africa Business Agenda 2019 report launched recently in Kenya.
Furthermore, the unease about global economic growth is also dampening CEOs’ confidence about their own companies’ outlook in the short term, with only 27 percent ‘very confident’ in their own companies’ prospects for revenue growth over the next 12 months.
Only 39 percent are ‘very confident’ about their organisations’ growth prospects over the next three years. The agenda compile results from a survey of 83 CEOs across 19 African countries including Kenya.
The results are benchmarked against the findings of the Annual Global CEO survey of more than 1300 CEOs, conducted during the last quarter of 2018.
Commenting on the survey findings, Dion Shango, CEO for PwC Africa, said economic and policy uncertainty in the continent, among other issues, had cast some doubt upon business leaders’ hopes for immediate and future growth.
‘’Although there is a drop in optimism, African business leaders do see some opportunities on the continent, but overall, they are playing it safe,’’ Shango said.
The annual survey provides an in-depth analysis and insights into how businesses are adapting to meet the challenges of operating in Africa.
Notwithstanding the current economic climate and other challenges, there is notable optimism among business leaders about the potential to unlock more growth on the continent.
On-going economic, social and political uncertainty is a perennial worry for CEOs globally, not least for those in Africa.
Concerns over policy uncertainty, skills shortage, over-regulation, and exchange rate volatility lead to the long list of risks causing anxiety for CEOs in all regions.
A consistently higher proportion of African CEOs say they are ‘extremely concerned’ about these issues compared to their global peers and the proportion who are concerned has in many cases declined since the previous survey.
For instance, 39 percent of African CEOs were concerned about social instability in 2019 against the world’s 18 percent. This was a significant improvement on the previous year’s results of 50 per cent, suggesting that in many countries conditions are ‘less bad’ than they were before.
They are mostly concerned about socio-political and economic threats, with 41 percent ‘extremely concerned’ about uncertain economic growth, unemployment (33%) populism (Africa 33%), exchange rate volatility (Africa 42%) and inadequate basic infrastructure (Africa 35%).
Only 36 percent of them said they would look enter a new market in pursuit of revenue growth.
Despite massive investments in technology, they identified a vast gap between the data they need to inform decision-making and the adequacy of the data they receive.
The primary reasons for this they said are due to data and a lack of sharing of information (Africa 59%), as well as poor data reliability (Africa 57%).
Most CEOs in Africa are taking a wait-and-see approach to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace currently, 35 percent compared to a global average of 52 percent.
