Despite the Delta variant slowing down the ‘return to normal’, CEOs of the world’s largest businesses are increasingly optimistic about the outlook for their own businesses, a recent survey has revealed.
According to the KPMG 2021 CEO Outlook, which surveyed more than 1,300 global CEOs including CEOs from East Africa with a focus on their strategies and outlook over a 3-year horizon, while 60 percent of leaders are confident about the global economy’s growth prospects over the next 3 years (up from 42 percent in the January/February’s pulse survey), 68% of East Africa’s CEOs are confident about their respective countries’ growth prospects.
This optimism is supported by ongoing economic recovery and increased business activity supported by vaccination efforts across the East Africa region.
On the back of prospects of a stronger global economy, CEOs are investing in expansion and business transformation, with 69 percent of senior executives identifying inorganic methods (e.g. joint ventures, M&A, and strategic alliances) as their organization’s main strategy for growth.
A majority (87 percent) of global leaders are also looking to make acquisitions in the next 3 years to help grow and transform their businesses.
Sustainability has featured prominently in this year’s survey, with 30 percent of CEOs planning to invest more than 10 percent of their revenues toward sustainability measures and programs over the next 3 years.
The survey further indicates that seven out of ten East Africa’s CEOs intend to lock in sustainability and climate change gains achieved during the COVID-19 crisis.
“Despite the continued uncertainty around the pandemic, CEOs are increasingly confident that the global economy is coming back strong. This confidence has put leadership in an aggressive growth stance. While inorganic growth strategies are a priority, CEOs are also looking to expand organically and continue to assess the future of work to ensure they can attract top talent,” notes Bill Thomas, Global Chairman & CEO, KPMG.
“If there is a positive to come out of the past 18 months, it is that CEOs are increasingly putting ESG at the heart of their recovery and long-term growth strategies. The unfolding climate and societal crises have made it clear that we need to change our ways and work together. I’m encouraged about what the future holds because business leaders are acknowledging that they need to be the drivers of positive change, supporting measures to tackle environmental dangers, as well as societal challenges — from gender and race, to equity and social mobility,” he added.
On his part, Benson Ndungu, Senior Partner and CEO, KPMG East Africa noted that “East African CEOs have expressed remarkable optimism. CEOs are confident in the growth prospects of their companies, their local economies and the global economy at large. These CEOs are looking to expand their businesses through hiring more people, scaling up their digital capabilities and engaging in M&A activity.”
