{
  "id": 17117719,
  "title": "African CEOs remain confident in growth, but economic uncertainty, AI readiness will shape next phase of investment – KPMG",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/african-ceos-remain-confident-in-growth-but-economic-uncertainty-ai",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-29T20:32:18.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
    "slug": "myjoyonline-ghana",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/african-ceos-remain-confident-in-growth-but-economic-uncertainty-ai-readiness-will-shape-next-phase-of-investment-kpmg/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The KPMG Africa CEO Outlook 2026 highlights the confidence of African business leaders in growth, but achieving sustained performance remains dependent on navigating economic uncertainty, geopolitical disruption, technological change, and structural constraints. The third edition of the report focuses on investment, growth expectations, emerging risks, artificial intelligence (AI), talent, and sustainability. Despite a strong global confidence in the economy (65%), African CEOs display even higher confidence in their domestic economies (72%) and their organisations' growth prospects (79%), underpinned by recent revenue growth for 86% of CEOs.\n\nHowever, only 58% anticipate at least 2.5% annual earnings growth over the next three years, compared to 68% globally. This discrepancy signals the priority of converting revenue gains into sustained profitability. African businesses operate in an interconnected global environment with geopolitical tensions, energy-market volatility, supply-chain disruptions, and shifting trade relationships, necessitating resilience. Cybersecurity and data security, alongside supply-chain resilience, are the top growth threats, cited by 31% of respondents. To address these issues, some African CEOs are increasing investment in cybersecurity and digital-risk resilience (45%), regulatory compliance and reporting (36%), and AI integration (31%).\n\nDespite a 72% confidence in AI as a strategic investment priority, only 14% believe their organisations are keeping pace with AI developments, contrasting with 66% globally. This gap underscores the challenge of developing AI capabilities to deploy effectively and at scale. African CEOs expect AI investments to yield returns within one to three years for 48% compared to 71% globally, with 42% expecting returns after three years. This longer investment horizon reflects the need to strengthen data capabilities, integrate AI into systems, establish governance, and develop skills.\n\nThe opportunity lies in using AI to boost productivity, enhance competitiveness, and develop new products and services for local and regional markets. Workforce transformation is also becoming essential, with 84% of African CEOs expecting headcount to increase over the next three years, compared to 89% globally. At the same time, 86% intend to retain and retrain high-potential employees, redesign roles and career paths for human-AI collaboration, and hire AI and technology talent. However, skills remain a significant constraint, with 59% identifying workforce skills gaps, 58% citing AI upskilling and training, and 52% facing challenges in attracting and retaining talent. Developing relevant skills and expanding technology access is crucial for African economies to ensure digital transformation supports broader economic participation.",
  "summary": "The findings point to a business environment in which ambition remains strong, but execution is becoming increasingly important. While 66% of African CEOs are confident in the global economy, broadly in line with the global benchmark of 65%, confidence in their domestic economies stands at 72%. A further 79% are confident in the growth prospects of their own organisations.",
  "key_points": [
    "72% of African CEOs confident in domestic economies vs 65% global confidence",
    "AI integration cited as top growth threat by 31% of African CEOs",
    "African CEOs expect AI investments to yield returns within 1-3 years"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}