- East Africa's CEOs express confidence in the region's economic growth trajectory.
- PwC survey reveals 70% of CEOs anticipate an expansion in East Africa's GDP.
- Challenges including workforce skills gap and infrastructure issues could hinder growth despite optimism.
East Africa’s economic outlook according to a recent survey is expected to be positive. This recent survey re-iterates the projections from a few sources, including the African Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund, both of which project growth in the East African region. The survey of CEOs reflects confidence in the subcontinent's resiliency.
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Most of the CEOs in East Africa have demonstrated confidence in the economic trajectory of the region. According to a poll conducted by the professional services firm PwC, 70% of CEOs surveyed anticipate that East Africa's GDP will expand, as reported by The Star.
Globally, 44% of CEOs predict GDP growth will increase, while 37 and 19 percent believe it will drop or remain stable, respectively.
This projected growth, according to the CEOs would stem from increased regional integration, smart public expenditure to increase infrastructure investment, as well as continuous efforts to modernize agricultural production systems and raise service sector productivity.
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This reiterates the assessment from the Africa Develoipment Bank’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook report, which stated, “aided by deeper regional integration and strategic public spending to improve infrastructure investment, growth is projected to pick up from an estimated 3.5 percent in 2023 to 5.1 percent in 2024 and 5.7 percent in 2025.”
Intra-EAC commerce rose to $10 billion in September 2022, up from $7.1 billion in 2019.
Kenya alongside China has been listed as two of the most friendly countries for CEOs to operate. These two nations have created a conducive enough environment for businesses to thrive and as such have been touted to have the most prospects for revenue growth within the next 12 months.
While the PwC’s survey spelled good news for the East African region, challenges that could hamper this growth were also listed, among them were a lack of skills within the company’s workforce, competing operational priorities, infrastructure challenges, shortage of technological capabilities, supply chain instability, and bureaucratic processes within the company.
