The recently released Deloitte CFO Survey for West Africa delivered various insights gleaned from CFOs operating in Nigeria and Ghana. The report revealed many interesting things, for example, that CFOs in West African countries are more positive about their growth prospects than their Southern African counterparts. It also revealed that they are, however, less optimistic than their East African counterparts. What exactly did West African CFOs have to say?
- Currency volatility and overall exposure to currency devaluation are among top industry concerns.
- Terrorism and its impact on the economy is one of the top concerns for Nigerian CFOs.
- Ghanaian CFOs are concerned about margin deterioration due to cost input pressures.
- CFOs continue to spend more time in operator and steward roles than they do as catalysts or strategists.
"CFOs in West African countries are more positive about their growth prospects over the next few years than their counterparts in Southern African countries, but a little less optimistic than East Africa CFOs."
So what are these CFOs doing about it?
- CFOs are adopting an agile approach to dealing with economic volatility.
- Improving operational efficiency and optimising costs is a major strategic thrust for CFOs.
- Ghanaian CFOs are looking to sell non-core assets, while CFOs in Nigeria are interested in growing customers, products and channels.
- The majority of CFOs will be spending their cash on improving current operations, while some want to retain cash for liquidity or repay debt.
A particularly interesting insight revealed by the report is that CFOs in all regions are feeling stretched when it comes to their workloads and the meeting of CEO and board demands.
The report said:
"Pressures as a result of poor company performance and strategic ambiguity also keep them up at night, as do insufficiently skilled support staff, changing regulatory requirements and excessive administrative work."
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