Southern Africa's CFOs anticipate subdued economic growth

Respondents from Southern Africa include CFOs in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi. East African respondents hail from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia and in West Africa from Nigeria and Ghana.

The report reveals that CFOs in South and Southern Africa are anxious about the future and anticipate subdued economic growth over the next three years. This is in contrast to East and West Africa where CFOs are far more positive about their growth prospects.

Pressure on currencies

The pressure placed on currencies worldwide due to the anticipated rate hike in the United States is reflected in the CFOs' responses, which show they expect downward pressure on their currencies with a region-wide decrease of more than 8% for 2015.

Notably, domestic factors are high on the list of business risks for South African respondents. The country's political landscape is cited by 61% of respondents as a significant risk, up from 33% in 2014. In addition, 60% of CFOs view the impact of continuing electricity price increases as another significant risk, up from 36% in 2014.

Respondents in Southern Africa are most concerned about the fragile state of the global economic recovery and electricity price increase, while East and West African CFOs cited currency volatility as their most pressing risk factor. The threat of terrorism and its impact on the economy is second on East Africa's list of risk factors and third on West Africa's.

Impact of corruption

A closer look at political concerns reveals that corruption and its impact on doing business is the greatest source of anxiety for South African CFOs. Government spending priorities and delivery on infrastructure projects are also amongst their top concerns. The picture for the rest of Southern African as well as East and West Africa looks similar, with CFOs in all regions highlighting corruption as their main concern.

The strategic focus for many CFOs in South Africa and its neighbouring countries this year is on increasing investor confidence and improving operational efficiency and process optimisation. This differs significantly from 2014 when the focus for CFOs in South Africa was on growing revenue from developed markets.

A more positive economic outlook means CFOs in East and West Africa are less concerned about improving investor confidence. In East Africa CFOs are more focused on growing brand equity and in West Africa on acquiring and retaining customers.

Download an infographic and view the full report.