“The next three years will be more critical than the past 50”. Such is the opinion of 1,300 CEOs of large and medium companies from various countries like China, USA, South Africa or the Great Britain.

Surveyed by the KPMG consulting firm in the framework of its 2016 Global CEO outlook entitled “Now or Never”, most of these CEOs like German Karl-Heinz Streibich believe that “Digital Darwinism is unkind to those who wait”.

Keystone of all these changes is a rapid change, which is driven by the development of sectors such as data analysis, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) or connected objects. According to the report, the changes will cause a drop in commodity prices amid global stagnation, as well as automation-led decline in job creation.

For the executives, the emergence of new giants like AirBnB or Uber, which have upset the value chain of industries like tourism and transport, calls for an urgent refocus on IT challenges.

However, the document indicates that despite uncertainties related to the actual political environment in major western democracies (namely USA and in Europe), the regions remain attractive for CEOs as they stimulate their firms’ growth.

Africa for its part comes last in this regard, behind India, China and the Middle East. Mainly as a result of a general “lack of seriousness” of various African nations “towardsdevelopment”, despite having a “high potential”.

Aaron Akinocho