According to the Africa Business Agenda report, a large proportion of African CEOs, 93 percent, are ‘somewhat confident or ‘very confident’ about their organization’s prospects for revenue growth over the next three years – higher than the global average of 85 percent.
However, faced with some uncertainty around current markets, CEOs are turning inward to drive revenue growth.
African CEOs identified operational efficiencies at 80 percent, organic growth at 76 percent and the launch of new products and services at 58 percent as their primary drivers of revenue growth.
The Agenda compiles results from a survey of 83 CEOs across 19 African countries. The results are benchmarked against the findings of PwC’s 22nd Annual Global CEO survey of more than 1 300 CEOs, conducted during the 4th quarter of 2018. The Agenda provides an in-depth analysis and insights into how businesses are adapting to meet the challenges and opportunities of operating in Africa.
Commenting on the survey findings, Peter Ngahu, Regional Senior Partner for PwC in the East Africa Region, says: “In Africa, economic and policy uncertainty, skills gaps and regulatory issues are among the most pressing issues that CEOs are having to grapple with. African business leaders do see opportunities on the continent – but overall, they are playing it safe.
“In our survey, we found that CEOs recognize technological advances among the most transformative global trends.
“One of the most relevant questions today is, ‘How can we ensure that economic growth is more inclusive and equitable?’ Ultimately it is governments and companies and the people leading them who will determine the success of any effort to ensure inclusive growth.
“Businesses with a clear purpose aligned to a collective sense of social responsibility are more successful in the marketplace and more attractive as employers. Talented people want to work for companies that they admire and they congregate where they can leverage the network effect of other innovative, purpose-driven people and companies. Networks solve problems and they are catalysts for inclusive growth.”
Technological advances and data
The forces of globalization and technology are transforming the workplace. A high percentage of African CEOs, at 83 percent ranked technological advances among the top three trends to have transformed the workplace most in the past five years.
Despite massive investments in technology, CEOs identified a vast gap between the data they need to inform decision-making and the adequacy of the data they receive. African CEOs say that their primary concerns are poor data quality and data that is trapped in silos.
Main risks on the Agenda
Ongoing 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.
Africa’s CEOs’ are mostly concerned about socio-political and economic threats, with 41 percent ‘extremely concerned’ about uncertain economic growth, unemployment at 43 percent; populism at 33 percent, exchange rate volatility at 42 percent and inadequate basic infrastructure at 35 percent.
Amongst business threats, 43 percent of African CEOs said they were ‘extremely concerned’ about over-regulation, 35 percent cited cyber threats, and 45 percent were ‘extremely concerned’ about the availability of key skills.