A new report from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has revealed four things that Kenyan Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) are most concerned about.
The report titled Monetary Policy Committee CEOs Survey released on Monday, May 31, indicated that the CEOs are most worried about a challenging business environment and regulatory environment.
The heads of companies were also concerned with economic performance as well as the negative effects of Covid-19 pandemic on the economy.
This survey, which was the second of its kind, was conducted between May 7 and 14, 2021.
It inquired from CEOs their levels of confidence/optimism in the growth prospects of their companies and sectors, as well as the growth prospects of the Kenyan and global economies over the next 12 months.
The CEOs answered questions related to the general business activity in 2021 Q2 compared to 2021 Q1, and their expectations for economic activity in 2021 Q3.
"CEOs are most concerned about a challenging business environment, regulatory environment and economic performance.
"Compared to March 2021, there’s also increased concern over the COVID-19 pandemic with fears over the possibility of a fourth wave with probability of new variants which would lead to more lockdowns and dampen investor confidence." read the report in part.
The survey also found that business environment was the biggest factor likely to constraint the growth of companies in the next 12 months accounting for 20%.
Other factors include Covid-19 at 16.2%, Business financing at 14.3%, taxation (12.4%), business environment (8.6%) and regulatory environment (8.6%).
The report, however, indicated that improved efficiency was the strongest internal factor that could strengthen a firms' outlook accounting for 30.1%.
Other factors companies can capitalise on to boost their outlook include skill retension and talent development ( 16.1%), strengthen Product Portfolio (14.0%) and revenue diversification (10.8%).
