Johannesburg - Global professional services firm Deloitte yesterday released its ninth annual chief financial officer (CFO) survey for sub-Saharan Africa.
Roy Campbell, the chief financial officer programme leader, said the economic environment, characterised by low commodity prices, volatile currencies and diminishing demand from large trading partners, made the role of the chief financial officer operating in sub-Saharan Africa tougher than ever.
It highlighted the defensive strategies most chief financial officers were adopting in response to tough economic conditions.
This year’s report revealed a more circumspect approach to prioritising cash flow and the focus for many chief financial officers was on improving operations, a recurrence of their top cash flow priority last year.
Higher risk endeavours, such as investing in new markets, new innovations or new products, were once again lower priorities, while retaining cash for liquidity, investing in new capacity and repaying debt were what most chief financial officers would be spending on this year.
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