70 percent of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in Ghana are confident of economic growth in 2025, the 28th Annual CEO Survey published by auditing and accounting firm, PwC, has revealed.

Per the survey, 48 percent of Ghanaian CEOs have projected their businesses to generate more revenue this year.

35 percent also believe their businesses will not be economically viable beyond 2035.

77 percent of the CEOs are optimistic about national economic growth in 2025.

“More instructive is the finding that Ghana’s CEOs are less pessimistic about their businesses’ short-term prospects than when we posed that question to them just 12 months earlier—65% of Ghana’s CEOs, at that time, were very confident or extremely confident about their company’s 2024 revenue prospects”, it pointed out.

The survey was conducted from October 1 through November 8, 2024 targeting 4,701 CEOs in 109 countries and territories.

The report indicated that the global and regional figures were adjusted based on each country’s nominal GDP, giving more weight to larger economies, to ensure broad regional representation.

“However in this case, Ghana’s data is based on unweighted data from the sample”, the report said.

The report further added that "CEOs are becoming less predominantly focused on economic threats. On balance, threats associated with geopolitics are gaining more attention. For instance, the proportions of CEOs globally concerned about inflation and economic volatility as short-term business threatshave fallen from the 30%-40% band (see the 26th CEOs survey conducted in 2022) into the 20%-30% band.

In response to the potential of Generative AI to boost profits in 2025, 59% of Ghanaian companies expressed optimism about its impact.

However, 52% and 49% of CEOs in Africa and globally expect the same.

"Aligned to these three data points representing CEOs’ trust in GenAI’s potential and their elation over early payoffs is CEOs’ confirmation of their readiness to continue to invest in the technology—66% of Ghana’s CEOs confirmed that they would continue to adopt/ embed GenAI across their companies over the next 12 months, i.e., in 2025," the report added.

PwC has been tracking CEOs’ interest in GenAI since the technology appeared on the radar of most executives a couple of years ago.

Across Ghana, Africa and globally, the report noted that the CEOs’ interest in and appetite for adopting this new and rapidly evolvingTechnology seems to have soared over a short period.

"In 2023, when we asked CEOs about the extent to which they had adopted GenAI in their businesses, less than a quarter of CEOs(23%) in Ghana affirmed having done so."

"The proportion was slightly higher for Africa CEOs (26%) and discernibly high at the global level—a third of CEOs (32%)."

The report revealed that CEOs’ responses to a question aboutwhat their plans are for the technology in 2025 might, however, suggest a slight softening in their implementationstances for the year.

In PwC's view, “softening” is not to suggest that executive interest in or appetite for the technology is waning. However, an expression—understandably—of CEOs’ caution following their stocktake of the technology’s performance against their expectations for the prior year.

This signalled the need for business leaders to be strategic in their investment appraisals of the technology.

In responding to the survey, PwC noted that CEOs reportedthat GenAI made appreciable contributions to their companies’ revenue growth and profitability, as well as to operationaland employees’ efficiencies.

"However, this performance slightly lagged CEO expectations for revenue growth and profitability, in particular," the report added.

An average of 63% of CEOs in Ghana noted they expected the new technology to enhance the time efficiencies of their workforce (including their own efficiency) at work.

This matched the average percentage of Africa and global CEOs(61%) who expressed a similar expectation.

"Perhaps, it was this positive sentiment about time efficiencies that led fewer CEOs (10% - 13%) to project workforce increasesdue to GenAI," the report added.

The report found that CEOs in Ghana appear more trustful ofGenAI than CEOs in Africa and globally.

"45% of them shared that they have a high degree of trust in having AI/ GenAI embedded into key processes in their company. In comparison, 33% and 35% of CEOs globally and in Africa, respectively, expressed similar sentiments of high trust," the report noted.

Govt's take on AI

Ghana in May launched the National AI Strategy Stakeholder Consultation Forum to highlight the critical importance of the initiative in positioning Ghana within the rapidly evolving global digital landscape.

The Communications Minister, Sam Nartey George, outlined the enormous potential of AI to transform various sectors, including agriculture, healthcare, logistics, smart cities and financial inclusion.

He, however, stressed the accompanying responsibilities concerning ethics, data privacy, governance, and inclusion, affirming the government’s determination to ensure that no one is left behind. “

Artificial Intelligence is no longer a future concept. It is here and it is already reshaping our world”, the Minister stated emphatically.

Under the leadership of H.E. President John Dramani Mahama, the government has set a clear ambition to make Ghana the AI Hub of Africa.

This vision is being supported by concrete steps, including the renaming of the Ministry to explicitly include Digital Technologies and Innovation.

IMF's view

In 2024, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicated that the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will impact 40 percent of the global workforce.

“A recent IMF study shows that artificial intelligence could affect up to 40 percent of jobs across the world and 60 percent in advanced economies.

“It could enhance workers’ productivity but also threatens some jobs. Investing in digital infrastructure and skills, as well as in strong social safety nets will determine the pace of AI adoption and its impact on productivity.”