PMI new study links project success to complexity control, urges disciplined execution of projects

Global new research from the Project Management Institute (PMI) has revealed that project complexity is emerging as a prominent threat to successful project delivery across Sub-Saharan Africa. This is as African region accelerates digital transformation, infrastructure development, energy expansion, and public-sector modernization.

According to the PMI’s latest Pulse of the Profession report, Driving Success in Complex Projects: From Navigating Tasks to Navigating Systems, the finding shows that projects are increasingly facing missed deadlines, decision bottlenecks, and pressure on teams as organisations race to deliver transformation amid rapid change.

The report, based on insights from project professionals and senior leaders across 35 countries, according to a statement, shows that 81% of project professionals globally believe projects have become more complex in recent years, with 37% describing the increase as significant. This increase in complexity is being driven by a combination of organisational, environmental, and human factors, including AI adoption, shifting stakeholder expectations, economic volatility, and increasingly interconnected systems.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the research highlights a particularly strong pattern of delivery disruption. According to PMI’s regional findings, missed delivery deadlines (at 44%) stand significantly above the global average (35%), while delays in stakeholder decision-making (41% vs. 34% for global) are emerging as another major friction point for organisations across the region.

The findings suggest that complexity is increasingly slowing value alignment, approvals, and execution, creating governance bottlenecks that compound delivery challenges. Team morale is also under pressure, with 23% of regional respondents citing decreased morale as a consequence of poorly managed complexity, compared to 19% globally.

“These findings reflect the realities many organisations across Africa are already facing,” said George Asamani, MD, PMI Sub-Saharan Africa. “Africa is currently undertaking some of the world’s most ambitious transformation agendas, from infrastructure and industrialisation to digital inclusion, energy access, fintech innovation, and public-sector reform. But as the scale of ambition grows, so does the complexity behind execution.”

“As organisations attempt to deliver more projects faster, many are discovering that traditional approaches focused purely on timelines and tasks are no longer enough. Success today depends on the ability to navigate interconnected systems, align stakeholders quickly, adapt to change continuously, and build resilient teams capable of operating in uncertainty,” he added.

According to Asamani, complexity does not always appear as a major crisis. Often, it shows up through everyday project challenges like shifting priorities, delayed decisions, changing requirements, or stakeholders pulling in different directions. But when these issues are not managed as part of a bigger interconnected system, they can lead to delivery delays, strategic drift, and pressure on teams.

Despite these challenges, the research points to a clear opportunity: organisations and teams that effectively manage complexity are five times more likely to deliver successful projects. Globally, projects managed effectively in complex environments achieved an 88% success rate compared to just 14% that were ineffective at managing complexity.