Economy
91% Africa’s CEOs Confident of Firms’ Growth Prospects—PwC
By Dipo Olowookere
A research carried out by PwC has revealed that 91 percent of CEOs in Africa are confident about their own companies’ growth prospects in the medium term.
CEO for PwC Africa, Mr Hein Boegman, described this as the “highest level of confidence since we started our research on CEOs in Africa in 2012.”
This revelation comes despite the current economic and socio-political uncertainty in the continent.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum on Africa 2017 in Durban on the challenges and opportunities facing Africa’s CEOs, Mr Boegman said one of the reasons why Africa CEOs are positive is that they tend to look to the upside and seize on the opportunities uncertainty brings.
Facing a climate of muted growth at best, CEOs recognise that while they focus on organic growth and cost reductions, they also need to prioritise investment in strategic alliances and joint ventures to expand their markets and grow their customer bases.
Despite the level of optimism for growth, CEOs are concerned about uncertain economic growth and the impact this will have on their business, he said.
“The returns for doing business on the continent are high, but so are the risks. Africa’s CEOs are operating in difficult times – infrastructure on the continent remains a challenge, finding and retaining the right talent for their businesses, dealing with many of the hurdles that come with working with governments, and managing growth plans across the continent,” Mr Boegman comments.
According to him, given the major changes we are currently seeing in the world – such as the recent US elections and the UK’s vote to leave the EU – a key feature of the current environment is just how difficult it is to read.
He argued that a single event can trigger a need for wholesale strategic changes. A case in point is the recent political and policy uncertainty in South Africa, and more particularly the recent downgrade in the country’s sovereign debt to junk status. Exchange rate volatility, an increasing tax burden, social instability resulting from inequality, and corruption remain problems in many countries.
Also, CEO for PwC Southern Africa, Dion Shango, remarked that, “It is no longer enough for business leaders to steer their organisations through a complicated and challenging environment – they will need to adapt swiftly to change.”
Shango noted that CEOs will need to focus on their business strategies and processes and will be expected to play a part in the broader community. CEOs will also need to consider the changing expectations and demands of current and future stakeholders.
“For CEOs, their customers, government and competitors have a big influence on business strategy. Understanding their needs and working towards addressing them can help build trust, maintain reputation and lend a licence to operate,” Shango opined.
Anne Eriksson, Regional Senior Partner for PwC in East Africa, says “regulatory policy can also restrain growth, and in some cases, necessitate cost reduction by the businesses affected.”
On the other hand, changes in regulation can also prompt strategic developments in business.
Eriksson points out that regulatory change in Kenya has helped the country’s financial services sector to pay more attention to its customers. A number of multinational companies have also committed to building capacity and improving transparency and regulatory frameworks through engagement with government. “Where there has been progress, economies have benefitted and the result is more inward investment, innovation and organic growth.”
Notwithstanding the slowdown, Africa is also experiencing a number of advances economically and socially. There are significant trends that could offer new opportunities and benefits for businesses, governments and the population. In the past year, global megatrends such as demographic change, increase in urbanisation, shifts in global economic power and technological innovation are favourable to development on the continent.
Across all sectors, the pace of innovation in Africa is driving greater collaboration and convergence. A number of multinational companies have committed to building capacity and improving transparency and regulatory frameworks through engagement with governments.
Where there has been progress, markets have benefitted and the result is more inward investment, innovation and growth. But in order to grow and expand to its potential, Africa will need to face the political and economic repercussions of climate change, as well as safety and political instability in some areas.
“The business leader of today must deliver seamless strategy and operational excellence. Africa’s CEOs will need to overcome a number of challenges to truly transform their organisations. In the process, business needs to recognise and manage its responsibilities and dependencies,” Boegman concludes.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange opened the week weaker by 0.47 per cent on Monday, June 15, biting N12.38 billion out of the market capitalisation to N2.605 trillion from N2.617 trillion.
This also brought down the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 20.68 points to 4,354.33 points from last Friday’s 4,375.01 points.
The loss was witnessed despite the unlisted securities exchange closing the session with two price gainers and two price losers.
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc crashed by N3.31 to trade at N80.62 per share compared with the preceding trading day’s N83.93 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc declined by 7 Kobo to close at N2.80 per unit versus N2.87 per unit.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc gained 20 Kobo to sell at N2.78 per share compared with the preceding session’s N2.58 per share, and UBN Property Plc improved by 12 Kobo to N2.10 per unit from N1.98 per unit.
During the session, the volume of securities traded by investors depreciated by 68.2 per cent to 992,164 units from the 3.1 million units achieved last Friday, the value of securities moderated by 42.8 per cent to N39.2 million from the preceding session’s N68.5 million, and the number of deals decreased by 14.8 per cent to 23 deals from the 27 deals reported in the previous trading day.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 66.8 million units exchanged for N4.6 billion.
The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis remained GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc followed with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira recorded a positive performance against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, June 15.
At the official FX window, the Nigerian legal tender appreciated against its US counterpart by N7.56 or 0.55 per cent to sell at N1,356.27/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,363.83/$1.
The local currency also gained N12.39 against the Pound Sterling during the trading day to trade at N1,808.86/£1 versus last Friday’s value of N1,821.25/£1, but shed N2.96 against the Euro to sell at N1,575.85/€1 compared with the previous N1,572.89/€1.
At the GTBank forex desk, the Nigerian Naira depreciated against the greenback yesterday by N2 to quote at N1,373/$1 versus the preceding session’s N1,371/$1, and at the black market, it maintained stability at N1,380/$1.
The pressure on the Naira has remained calm, as Nigeria’s gross external reserves surged to $50.505 billion, the highest since January 2009, driven by inflows from oil sales, affirming expectations that the local currency will remain along a stable band.
Meanwhile, the headline inflation rate rose to 15.93 per cent in May 2026, extending the upward trend recorded since the beginning of the year, according to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The figure shows an increase from the 15.69 per cent recorded in April, indicating that prices of goods and services continued to climb despite a slower monthly rate of inflation.
The NBS said the latest figures suggest that while prices are still rising, the rate of increase has moderated from the previous month, largely impacted by the war in the Middle East, which drove up fuel prices.
In the cryptocurrency market, top benchmarked coins reversed early losses after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates to a 31-year high in its fight against inflation.
There had been profit-taking across the board as traders waited for Iran’s signing after US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance signed an electronic copy of a memorandum of understanding. President Trump said the Strait of Hormuz, already partially open, will fully reopen on Friday.
Ripple (XRP) soared by 3.7 per cent to $1.22, Solana (SOL) grew by 3.6 per cent to $73.82, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 2.7 per cent to $1,765.24, and Bitcoin (BTC) gained 0.7 per cent to trade at $66,191.45.
On the flip side, Cardano (ADA) slid 1.9 per cent to $0.1776, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 1.7 per cent to $0.0874, TRON (TRX) slumped by 0.8 per cent to $0.3180, and Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 0.6 per cent to $614.10, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
Weak investor sentiment sliced 0.63 per cent from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Monday, the first trading session after a one-day break last Friday for Democracy Day celebration in Nigeria.
The stock market came under selling pressure yesterday, leaving all the major sectors of the bourse facing southwards.
The energy index shed 3.20 per cent, the banking space lost 1.17 per cent, the insurance counter declined by 0.68 per cent, and the consumer goods sector crumbled by 0.39 per cent, while the industrial goods segment closed flat.
Consequently, the market capitalisation decreased by N844 billion to N156.126 trillion from N156.970 trillion, and the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,316.40 points to 243,422.34 points from 244,738.74 points.
International Energy Insurance gave up 9.99 per cent to trade at N6.40, eTranzact crashed by 9.97 per cent to N14.90, Abbey Mortgage Bank lost 9.65 per cent to finish at N10.30, Oando dropped 9.43 per cent to quote at N48.00, and NAHCO tumbled by 9.19 per cent to N163.00.
On the flip side, Royal Exchange appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N1.65, Ikeja Hotel moved up by 9.97 per cent to N47.45, Neimeth improved by 9.94 per cent to N9.40, Consolidated Hallmark gained 9.58 per cent to sell for N9.04, and University Press climbed 9.09 per cent to N6.00.
Yesterday, market participants traded 569.1 million shares valued at N31.4 billion in 77,652 deals compared with 1.7 billion shares worth N52.8 billion exchanged in 49,807 deals in the preceding session, showing a rise in the number of deals by 55.91 per cent, a tightening in the trading volume by 66.52 per cent, and a shrinkage in the trading value by 40.53 per cent.
Sterling Holdings was the busiest stock on Monday with a turnover of 103.0 million units worth N805.5 million, GTCO exchanged 41.3 million equities for N5.6 billion, FCMB traded 37.9 million shares for N433.7 million, Access Holdings sold 27.3 million equities worth N666.0 million, and UBA transacted 20.4 million stocks valued at N877.3 million.
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