South African CEOs are relatively bullish about future prospects; however, local leaders shared a level of concern over various challenges, advisory firm KPMG’s latest Global CEO Outlook showed.

Although confident of growth in their industries and companies over the next year, local CEOs’ expectations were modest as they grappled with a multitude of issues simultaneously.

“CEOs operating in South Africa are well aware of their many challenges and they are reasonably bullish about the future of the country,” said KPMG Southern Africa CEO Trevor Hoole.

Meanwhile, South African CEOs’ view of growth potential in the world had shifted away from developed countries to emerging economies, with Brazil, India and China seen by the top executives in South Africa as the most attractive foreign markets.

“While still among the leading markets, the US and China’s [attractiveness had] decreased since last year. Western Europe has also seen a significant decline in its attractiveness as a foreign market,” he explained.

Globally, many CEOs felt that they were not disrupting their industry’s business models enough, with nearly half of those surveyed believing that the next three years will be more critical than the previous 50 years in an era of unprecedented change.

“ . . . The [CEOs] are increasingly optimistic that they can transform their organisation for what the future holds. That confidence is apparent in their hiring plans and projected topline growth over the three-year horizon,” the report noted.

However, 58% of CEOs were concerned about whether their organisation was “staying on top of what’s next” in services or products, while more than 70% of those surveyed agreed that regulatory changes would inhibit their growth.

Almost half of the CEOs questioned indicated that their organisation would battle to increase its market share, while some 70% of the respondents were concerned about the impact of global economic forces on their business.