The PwC Annual Global CEO survey report for West Africa has revealed that about 51% of chief executive officers (CEOs) across the region expect their local economies to decline in 2024 compared to 37% for the global average as contained in the report.
While West African CEOs expect decline in their local economies, the report reveals their positive expectation for global economic growth. 60% of them projected growth in the global economy compared to 38% of the global sentiment.
Also, the report reveals the fears of chief executives across the subregion with respect to business viability, the impact of technology on their business and the regulatory environment.
According to the report, 45% of CEOs fear that businesses will cease to exist without reinvention while 42% say the regulatory environment across the region is the major bottleneck in their quest to create value.
Furthermore, just over half of CEOs (51%) state generative AI will change how their businesses create, capture and deliver value in the next three years. Although, they fear inherent risk with the technology such as misinformation, cybersecurity, reputational risks and so on.
In the aspect of sustainability and adapting to climate change, West African CEOs say absence of demand and regulatory complexity is the biggest inhibitors towards efforts to decarbonise or reduce their carbon footprints.
The gloomy economic growth projection from CEOs across the West African subregion comes as a surprise since countries across the region are among the fastest growing economies not just in the continent, but globally.