SA CEOs upbeat on prospects

Johannesburg - While expressing an overwhelming affirmation that South Africa was through the worst of the recession and hope for an upturn in mid-2010, the country's corporate leaders remained cautiously optimistic about short-term growth prospects.

This is one of the findings of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) 13th Annual Global CEO Survey, conducted between September and November 2009 in 52 countries, including SA.

According to the survey, an overwhelming 93% of South African CEOs surveyed expected the local economy to emerge from the recession during the course of this year. While this level of confidence is more than 25% greater than the global and African averages of 65% and 64% respectively, corporate leaders remain concerned about external uncertainties.

With the external environment remaining unpredictable, SA CEOs who participated in the study believed that better penetration of existing markets holds the most promise for short-term business growth. Some suggested that new geographical markets as well as mergers and acquisitions also offered potential for business growth.

However, on a three-year view, SA CEOs are even more upbeat when it comes to growth prospects, with 97% saying they were confident.

Most African CEO respondents indicated they were "very confident" on the long-term outlook, pointing to the immense growth potential being recognised in the continent's emerging economies.

Suresh Kana, PwC's southern Africa CEO, said the survey found there was more confidence among leaders of emerging markets. In line with this, about 40% of SA CEOs said they were expecting to increase their head counts this year against 20% planning to decrease their staff complement.

The survey also found that SA CEOs continue to be troubled by a host of other perceived threats to their businesses' growth prospects, such as exchange rate volatility, over-regulation, skills shortages, energy costs, lack of infrastructure and capital market instability.

- Fin24.com