What CEOs can do to thrive in business amidst challenges

Chief Executive Officer (CEOs) of companies have been advised to adopt technology to be able to remain in business in a challenging environment.

Sam Abu, country senior partner PwC Nigeria and regional senior partner, West market, gave this advice at the ongoing BusinessDay CEO forum in Lagos.

“The Nigerian Macroeconomic landscape is changing, and you need to rethink your business model to stay afloat. Many CEOs are already tackling challenges and exploring opportunities; do not be left behind,” he said.

Speaking on the topic, ‘Thriving in an Age of Continuous Reinvention’, he said, “to make your business viable within the short to long term period, adopt technology .”

He said the CEOs should transform their workforce, enable, empower and train workers, making them digitally capable.

He said they should develop and expand new products and services, as well as rethink their business models.

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On strategies to transform their business, Abu noted, “Transform your workforce, deploy technology; you may not be able to replace everyone who leaves your workforce so deploy technology.

“Also, build in sustainability. If you do not have a sustainability strategy for the future, you won’t thrive in business. For Nigeria, think about energy efficiency, control and contain your carbon footprint. Finally, innovate and do things differently. What your customers needed last year is different now. You need to meet them where they are.”

On the challenges that CEOs are facing, he highlighted, “Firstly, there’s climate change that needs no introduction. Everyone understands how climate change is affecting our businesses and affecting our communities.

“In the past two years, we’ve witnessed significant technological disruptions impacting our lives, furthering the biases we’ve experienced.”

“Additionally, global demographics are shifting. In some regions, populations are aging, which has major implications for strategic deployment to meet consumer demands. This shift also affects pension systems for older populations. For a country like Nigeria, the challenge is harnessing its youthful population to enhance productive capacity,” he added.

Hope Moses-Ashike and Zainab Aderounmu

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.