{"id":264975,"date":"2025-11-05T08:20:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T09:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/?p=264975"},"modified":"2025-11-05T10:03:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T10:03:25","slug":"african-ceos-optimistic-about-mergers-and-acquisitions-ai-integration-and-economic-recovery-kpmg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/builder\/african-ceos-optimistic-about-mergers-and-acquisitions-ai-integration-and-economic-recovery-kpmg\/","title":{"rendered":"African CEOs optimistic about mergers and acquisitions, AI integration, and economic recovery – KPMG"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post<\/a> was originally published on this site<\/a><\/p>

<\/p>\n

Most African CEOs are planning acquisitions over the next three years, says KPMG in its 2025 Africa CEO Outlook survey, as business confidence in domestic economies and growth prospects recover amid the global race to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI).<\/span><\/p>\n

After surveying 130 top African CEOs, the KPMG survey report notes that <\/span>86% of African CEOs <\/span>are <\/span>plan<\/span>ning <\/span>acquisitions<\/span> over the <\/span>next three years<\/span>, up from 77% in the same survey last year. It said this \u201csignals <\/span>a strong appetite for expansion<\/span>\u201d by the continent\u2019s top corporates.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Confidence in domestic economies is also rising, with 63% of African CEOs expressing optimism about their country\u2019s growth prospects up from 61% in 2024<\/span>,\u201d notes the report.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, as much as 46% <\/span>of Africa CEOs <\/span>were <\/span>aligning sustainability goals with their core business strategies, <\/span>while <\/span>51<\/span>% are <\/span>are prioritising compliance and reporting.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, African organisations face higher regulatory challenges<\/span> for their sustainability efforts<\/span>, with 21<\/span>%<\/span> citing the complexity of decarbonising supply chains as their top barrier in achieving net zero and climate ambitions <\/span>as well as <\/span>a lack of skills and expertise to successfully implement solutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>This highlights that while CEOs confidence levels are strong, the operating environment in African markets remains more fragmented and complex in meeting regulatory demands and net zero targets<\/span>,\u201d notes the KPMG survey.<\/span><\/p>\n

Positively though, <\/span>more than 40<\/span>% of the surveyed <\/span>Africa<\/span>n<\/span> CEOs indicate<\/span>d that they <\/span>are actively developing and launching new products or services that address the energy transition<\/span>. In South Africa, top corporates are rushing to secure renewable energy supply.<\/span><\/p>\n

Apart from this, another major focus area for African CEOs is integration of AI and upskilling of employees. About <\/span>88% <\/span>of CEOs are <\/span>expect to increase headcount, with AI seen as a complement to human capability.<\/span><\/p>\n

AI emerged as the top strategic priority for African CEOs heading into 2026<\/span>, with <\/span>71% investing in AI to drive operational efficiency and long-term resilience<\/span>. About <\/span>26% plan to allocate more than 20% of their annual budget to AI, nearly double the global average of 14%<\/span>, notes the KPMG report.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>This high level of investment by Africa CEOs, despite declining economic optimism, reflects a shift in mindset where Africa CEOs in West Africa (65%), East Africa (40%) and Southern Africa (38%) all view AI not only as a tool for future growth, but as an immediate lever for operational efficiency, better decision-making, and long-term resilience.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite this, i<\/span>nfrastructure gaps complicate progress of technology and AI adoption in Africa as many African organisations continue to face unreliable power supply, limited broadband connectivity, and outdated computing systems<\/span>. These factors were restricting <\/span>the use of data-intensive AI solutions<\/span>, with <\/span>96% <\/span>of African CEOs citing <\/span>data readiness as a challenge, highlighting the need for local data curation and infrastructure investment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite global economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, African CEOs are optimistic about their own organisations\u2019 growth prospects.<\/span> <\/span>Regional integration and cross-border collaboration <\/span>also emerged <\/span>as growth accelerators, with African CEOs increasingly prioritising intra-African trade and market expansion aligned to AfCFTA opportunities.<\/span><\/p>\n

“This year\u2019s results reflect a confident and pragmatic leadership mindset across the continent. African CEOs are not only adapting to global challenges but are actively investing in the future through AI, talent, and sustainable growth strategies. The outlook is clear: resilience and innovation will define Africa\u2019s growth story<\/span>,<\/span>“<\/span> said <\/span>Ignatius Sehoole, the CEO of KPMG South Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n

BUSINESS REPORT<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most African CEOs are planning acquisitions over the next three years, says KPMG in its 2025 Africa CEO Outlook survey, as business confidence in domestic economies and growth prospects recover amid the global race to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI).After surveying 130 top African CEOs, the KPMG survey report notes that\u00a086% of African CEOs\u00a0are\u00a0planning\u00a0acquisitions\u00a0over the\u00a0next three years, up from 77% in the same survey last year. It said this \u201csignals\u00a0a strong appetite for expansion\u201d by the continent\u2019s top corporates.\u201cConfidence in domestic economies is also rising, with 63% of African CEOs expressing optimism about their country\u2019s growth prospects up from 61% in 2024,\u201d notes the report.Moreover, as much as 46%\u00a0of Africa CEOs\u00a0were\u00a0aligning sustainability goals with their core business strategies,\u00a0while\u00a051% are\u00a0are prioritising compliance and reporting.However, African organisations face higher regulatory challenges\u00a0for their sustainability efforts, with 21% citing the complexity of decarbonising supply chains as their top barrier in achieving net zero and climate ambitions as well as\u00a0a lack of skills and expertise to successfully implement solutions.\u201cThis highlights that while CEOs confidence levels are strong, the operating environment in African markets remains more fragmented and complex in meeting regulatory demands and net zero targets,\u201d notes the KPMG survey.Positively though,\u00a0more than 40% of the surveyed\u00a0African\u00a0CEOs indicated that they\u00a0are actively developing and launching new products or services that address the energy transition. In South Africa, top corporates are rushing to secure renewable energy supply.Apart from this, another major focus area for African CEOs is integration of AI and upskilling of employees. About\u00a088%\u00a0of CEOs are\u00a0expect to increase headcount, with AI seen as a complement to human capability.AI emerged as the top strategic priority for African CEOs heading into 2026, with\u00a071% investing in AI to drive operational efficiency and long-term resilience. About\u00a026% plan to allocate more than 20% of their annual budget to AI, nearly double the global average of 14%, notes the KPMG report.\u201cThis high level of investment by Africa CEOs, despite declining economic optimism, reflects a shift in mindset where Africa CEOs in West Africa (65%), East Africa (40%) and Southern Africa (38%) all view AI not only as a tool for future growth, but as an immediate lever for operational efficiency, better decision-making, and long-term resilience.\u201dDespite this, infrastructure gaps complicate progress of technology and AI adoption in Africa as many African organisations continue to face unreliable power supply, limited broadband connectivity, and outdated computing systems. These factors were restricting\u00a0the use of data-intensive AI solutions, with\u00a096%\u00a0of African CEOs citing\u00a0data readiness as a challenge, highlighting the need for local data curation and infrastructure investment.Despite global economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, African CEOs are optimistic about their own organisations\u2019 growth prospects.\u00a0Regional integration and cross-border collaboration\u00a0also emerged\u00a0as growth accelerators, with African CEOs increasingly prioritising intra-African trade and market expansion aligned to AfCFTA opportunities.”This year\u2019s results reflect a confident and pragmatic leadership mindset across the continent. African CEOs are not only adapting to global challenges but are actively investing in the future through AI, talent, and sustainable growth strategies. The outlook is clear: resilience and innovation will define Africa\u2019s growth story,”\u00a0said\u00a0Ignatius Sehoole, the CEO of KPMG South Africa.BUSINESS REPORT<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":264977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-264975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-builder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264975"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264976,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264975\/revisions\/264976"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}