Pandemic presents risk, opportunities for businesses, says BLSA CEO

26th October 2021

By: Tasneem Bulbulia

Senior Contributing Editor Online

     

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The Covid-19 pandemic and associated uncertainty have led to a number of opportunities and risks for the country and for the continent, Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busisiwe Mavuso said in a keynote address at Deloitte Africa’s Risk Conference 2021 on October 26.

In terms of opportunities, she mentioned globalisation and trade. Mavuso said the future would see a reorientation for supply chains and manufacturing, with Covid-19 revealing the fragility of global supply chains.

Therefore, she said, there were many opportunities for localisation. The African Continental Free Trade Area would benefit localisation in Africa.

South Africa could also capitalise on that as the country is the biggest contributor to intra-African trade, which better positions it to accrue benefits from interconnected regional markets.

Mavuso said another opportunity was technology and innovation. She said it was clear that technology was already reshaping the working world, with companies rapidly adopting new technologies and ways of working owing to the pandemic and lockdowns.

Mavuso said the considerable efficiency gains realised from this would convince companies to keep these technologies and ways of working after the pandemic, and a hybrid model would most likely be adopted by most businesses.

However, she cautioned that there must be a balance been adopting new technologies and efficiency and ensuring that people’s mental and emotional health were still a priority.

In terms of risks, Mavuso mentioned behavioural shifts as far as trust and collaboration were concerned.

She said the pandemic had raised the question of whether the social fabric had become better, or if society was further divided by the crisis.

She noted that, in South Africa, there was a widening trust deficit, evidenced by examples such as corruption scandals around the procurement of personal protective equipment, companies having difficulty accessing pandemic relief schemes and how food relief parcels were distributed.

This, she said, occurred in an environment where considerable job losses occurred and many people were uncertain about their futures.

Secondly, she mentioned the biggest risk facing the country as being societal impacts.

Mavuso said the pandemic brought attention to companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) roles, and had created lasting consumer expectations in this regard.

She emphasised that companies would be held to a greater standard moving forward.

Mavuso said Covid-19 exposed how fractured South Africa’s democracy was, and how unequal it was as well.

She emphasised the need to strengthen social safety nets and for interventions in this regard. Mavuso said that, therefore, responsible business had become increasingly important. She stated that businesses could not thrive if they continued to ignore the ESG agenda.

Gift of the Givers Foundation CEO Dr Imtiaz Sooliman also highlighted the need for businesses to play a role in this regard.

He said government could not support the majority alone owing to the limited tax base, and that it required the support of all sizes of business to tackle infrastructure, debt, service delivery, and pandemic challenges.

Moreover, he mentioned the need for morally and ethically correct government to work in partnership with this business support.

Deloitte Africa chairperson Ruwayda Redfearn highlighted that ethical leadership could not be outsourced, saying that it was a fundamental component within the social fibre that set a precedent in tackling the most pressing issues facing public-private partnerships.

Encouraging the right conversations was needed to solve education, health, and business continuity issues, she added. Redfearn indicated that businesses must become more involved in public policy formulation.

For example, Deloitte has formed the Deloitte Africa Health Equity Institute, or DEHAI, which uses data and analytics, research as well as strategic partnerships with government and health care organisations to advance health care equity in Africa, which in South Africa particularly has assisted with the Covid-19 response.

Deloitte Africa ESG leader Mark Victor introduced the notion of building a continuum of resilience in business. “At the same time, organisations are needing to address climate change, developing new opportunities, strengthening community relationships, and investigating new ways to create value. All of this is in the service of pursuing sustainable growth and is reflected in the key industry trends identified for the new edition of our report.”

Illovo Sugar Africa Group MD Gavin Dalgleish added that social cohesion was important to communities in Africa where businesses were mandated to fulfil community needs through communities’ benefitting from economic inclusivity and employment.

Dalgleish said the agroprocessing industry was one of the key sectors that could create high-value rural jobs, adding that companies’ social responsibility programmes needed to be more responsive to local needs.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

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