Advisory services multinational PwC Africa has announced its six focus areas to support the group's global New Equation strategy, which aims to deliver sustained outcomes for its clients.

PwC Africa’s six key focus areas are: trust; growth and value creation; environmental, social and governance (ESG); digitisation; international development; and workforce.

Further, audit and assurance remain a critical aspect of PwC Africa’s business and, as such, the firm will continue investing significantly in this area of its business, including investment in technology, and upskilling its employees to be more digitally enabled, the company says.

“Our purpose as PwC is to build trust in society and solve important problems. The New Equation will shape how we help to build trust, as well as how we deliver sustained outcomes as a community of problem solvers.

"Quality is at the heart of everything that we do and, therefore, quality is the foundation supporting our execution of the New Equation strategy,” comments PwC Africa CEO Dion Shango.

“PwC has been in Africa for more than 70 years and we continue to be optimistic about the opportunities on the continent. In response to technological disruption, climate change, fractured geopolitics and the continuing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, besides other challenges, many organisations need to refocus and that’s where we can help with the New Equation,” he adds.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic and related economic and social challenges have had a significant impact on African economies, businesses and communities. The New Equation strategy informs PwC Africa’s commitment to quality, expertise, upskilling, and tools and technologies that improve resilience and support productivity and sustainable, equitable growth.

“PwC Africa has an important role to play in helping organisations to create the value they are looking for. Optimising workforce productivity, seeking competitive value in deals and other transactions and deploying integrated digital solutions can deliver sustained outcomes within organisations, among others.”

Further, aligned to the global strategy, PwC Africa’s specialised teams are equipped with industry knowledge to support clients with their ESG objectives that help to build trust and achieve sustained outcomes.

“Good governance supports sustainable outcomes in terms of business performance, and also through systems, processes and standards that deliver quality results,” says Shango.

PwC will also invest in additional resources and tools to assist clients with embedding ESG from strategy to execution and in delivering impactful, transparent reporting.

Additionally, PwC supports organisations in their renewable energy transitions, their net-zero commitments and sustainable financing, as well as their social commitments in the communities in which they operate.

The firm is mobilising on its goal of reaching net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions, in line with science-based targets, by 2030, PwC Africa highlighted.

“Our net-zero commitment rests on the progress that we will make towards measurement and disclosure, emission reduction, supply chain decarbonisation and renewable energy and carbon offsets. It is part of what we see as our greater societal purpose,” Shango adds.

DIGITAL AND DEVELOPMENT
Technology and digitisation will continue to drive PwC Africa’s strategy. By coupling the power of technology with expertise in specific areas, such as strategy, risk, deals, management consulting and tax strategy, besides others, the New Equation helps to deliver sustained outcomes and value for PwC Africa’s clients.

“The future is human-led and tech-powered; how human ingenuity combines with technology innovation and experience to deliver faster, more intelligent and better outcomes while building trust and ensuring quality across the value chain.

“PwC’s digital journey continues to facilitate greater efficiency, deeper insight and higher quality service delivery,” Shango notes.

PwC Africa is partnering to achieve international development goals and will expand its capabilities to help address some of the continent’s biggest development challenges. The firm's aim is to build trust by improving the effectiveness of development assistance through promoting innovation, reducing costs, assuring accountability and establishing results- and impact-based management.

“Working with multilateral and bilateral funding agencies, governments, international nongovernmental organisations, foundations and the private sector, we can help these organisations deliver sustained and meaningful outcomes. Our objective is to build trust by improving the effectiveness and quality of development assistance,” says Shango.

PwC aims to empower its people to build a community of problem solvers to delivery high-quality services as part of its global strategy. This will also lead PwC Africa to build a more inclusive and diverse workforce, as well as develop new skills sets through recruitment, training, and technology, Shango states.

“Through the New Equation, we commit to purpose-led work and opportunities for career development for our people, as well as empowered, flexible working arrangements. By embracing diversity and inclusion, we keep our PwC values and purpose top of mind and inspire our people to deliver quality work.

“Our people are our most valuable asset, and through them we are helping other organisations to maximise the value of their workforces. Our people, skills, technology, and quality service delivery help us to serve our clients and stakeholders more effectively so that they, too, can lead trust-based businesses and organisations,” he says.