About 78 per cent of businesses across Africa are at risk of collapse due to the absence of a succession plan, a development that continues to prevent many indigenous companies from surviving beyond the second generation, Convener of the C-Suite Exclusive Masterclass Succession Blueprint, Prof. Ezekiel Isidahomen, has said.

Isidahomen warned that poor succession planning has remained one of the biggest threats to business continuity in the continent, with family disputes, boardroom conflicts and leadership crises forcing many once-thriving enterprises to shut down shortly after the demise of their founders.

According to him, only about 22.2 per cent of Nigerian businesses have succession plans in place, leaving the vast majority exposed to governance failures and ownership disputes.

“Over 70 per cent do not have succession plans. Those businesses are at risk. We have seen many organisations fold up because of family disputes, board versus management conflicts and disagreements between management and the founding family,” he said.

He said the succession gap extends across Africa, where only a small percentage of family-owned businesses successfully transition to the third generation.

“Many businesses in Africa are yet to reach the third generation. Only a few, about three per cent, make it that far because of conflicts between families, boards and management. Our goal is to change that narrative by helping businesses to build structures that ensure continuity even after the founders are gone,” he stated.

Isidahomen added that institutionalising succession planning would not only preserve family wealth but also strengthen investor confidence, as businesses with stable governance structures are more attractive to local and foreign investors.

To address the challenge, Isidahomen announced that the summit scheduled for August 19 and 20 in Lagos is a strategy room for leaders who want their work to outlive them.

He said the summit, organised in collaboration with Pebble Hill University in the United States, is designed to equip business leaders with practical succession frameworks and a 90-day implementation roadmap to help organisations institutionalise leadership succession, eliminate single points of failure in management and operations, and preserve wealth across generations.

The don said participants are also expected to gain insights into legal and financial structures that reduce the risk of business failure after the exit of founders, develop internal leadership pipelines for future executives, and learn governance models that transform founder-dependent businesses into system-driven institutions.

With an investment fee of N1 million, he added that resource persons billed for the summit include Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Hannibal Uwaifo, and Lecturer at Pan-Atlantic University, Nkem Chima, among other distinguished speakers who will provide practical insights on succession planning, governance, legal structures and building enduring institutions.