African CEOs Rank Kenya As 2nd Leading Business Destination

A section of top African CEOs has ranked Kenya as the second leading business destination for big companies looking for growth prospects in 2019, a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has revealed.

Out of the 171 African CEOs interviewed by the audit and consultancy firm, 22 company bosses noted that Kenya is an important market destination for growth opportunities.

Kenya came in 2nd after the US which was ranked higher by 24 business leaders in the CEO survey.

According to the findings of the PwC’s 7th Africa Business Agenda 2019 , most of the CEOs ranked big companies with annual revenue of more than USD 100 million, largely located in South Africa.

Finding Growth Opportunities

Nonetheless, most of the CEOs decried pessimism in finding growth opportunities, 20 % said they did not know of the right places to seek growth, a higher rate than the 8% recorded in 2018.

“29% of global CEOs (Africa: 25%) projected a decline in global economic growth, up from a mere 5% last year,” PwC stated.

According to PwC regional senior partner Peter Ngahu, most of the CEOs cited uncertainty in government policies, skills gaps to drive innovation and over-regulation.

“The CEOs are looking for new markets … but they are approaching the new markets with some level of caution. So if they are identifying economies outside of their home, Kenya, given its level of stability, remains quite popular,” PwC Kenya assurance leader Kang’e Saiti added.

Declined Optimism In Strength Of Global Economy

In addition, the report stated that at least 25 percent of chief executive officers in the continent believe that the global economy will decline over the next 12 months.

Most of them have reduced confidence in the strength of the global economy and their organizations’ ability to grow revenues in both short and medium-term.

“Only 27 percent are ‘very confident’ in their own companies’ prospects for revenue growth over the next 12 months.

“Our survey findings also indicate that CEOs are more concerned about the factors that impact the ease of doing business in the markets where they operate, “the PwC report stated adding that the booses are wary of factors that impact their overall confidence and willingness to invest and/or take the risk.

The Africa Business Agenda draws on the results of PwC’s 22nd Annual Global CEO Survey of 1 378 interviews in 91 countries, including 83 CEOs from 19 African countries.

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