Kunle Elebute, senior partner and chief economist at KPMG Nigeria, has warned chief executive officers (CEOs) that if they are not well-prepared and lack the proper staff to handle economic difficulties, their companies risk going out of business.
The obstacles facing today’s CEOs are undoubtedly greater than they were in the past, according to Elebute.
At the CEO luncheon of the Franco-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which had as its theme “Business governance and society; the duty of the modern CEO,” he revealed this yesterday in Lagos.
In order to sustain their companies, Elebute, who doubles as the Chairman of KPMG Africa, advised CEOs to seek out effective strategies for accelerating corporate growth. He also advised CEOs to be creative and imaginative in their dealings.
Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, senior partner at Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL), asserted that modern CEOs must be knowledgeable about governmental regulations and that businesses need government policies to drive efficiency.
“Our various challenges can be reviewed. We had a very interesting seminar on what are the big issues that business leaders need to look out for. The importance of today’s meeting is for business and the community around it to reflect on how it can relate to doing its own business successfully in Nigeria. We discussed the fact that doing business will require a good policy environment. There has to be a relationship between government and business for development to take place,” he said.
Laurence Monmayrant, the French consul general in Nigeria, said earlier that convening CEOs is a good idea to gain expertise and insights into problems impeding corporate growth.
According to Monmayrant, the new normal they are living in is difficult for CEOs because of things like growing energy costs, security concerns, and cyber security, among other difficulties.
She claimed that despite the difficult times, French companies continue to conduct business in Nigeria.
