Economist tasks CEOs on resilience amid rising challenges

Senior Partner and Chief Economist at KPMG Nigeria, Kunle Elebute, has charged Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) to be well prepared and ensure they have the right team around to deal with issues of the economy otherwise their businesses could become extinct.

Elebute said it is clear that the modern CEOs of today have more challenges than before.

He disclosed this, yesterday, in Lagos at the Franco-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s CEO luncheon with the theme, ‘Business governance and society; the role of the modern CEO’.

Elebute, who doubles as the Chairman KPMG Africa, said CEOs should look for efficient ways to drive the growth of their businesses, adding that CEOs should be creative and innovative in their dealings for sustenance of businesses.

Senior Partner, Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, said businesses need government policies to drive efficiency, stating that a modern CEO must be familiar with government regulations.

“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.

Earlier in her remarks, Consul General of France in Nigeria, Laurence Monmayrant, said gathering CEOs is an idea of getting knowledge and insights into issues affecting business growth.

Monmayrant said being a CEO is challenging because of the new normal they find themselves, which include rising energy overhead, security issues, cyber security among other challenges.

She said despite the challenging times, Nigeria remains a business hub for French companies.