Partners, board members and staff of PwC, a multinational professional services network, from over 10 countries have convened in Kigali to discuss innovative ways to develop their business and increase relevance. The meeting attracted delegates from PwC Sub Saharan Francophone Africa Conference. The summit is themed around ‘Reimagining the Possible’, with participants looking into ways they can innovatively grow their business, improve the quality of services to clients and, consequently, relevance. RDB CEO Clare Akamanzi addresses the conference at Intare Conference Arena in Kigali yesterday. The firm’s officials say that they hope to pick up best practices from Rwanda’s development model over the years. Lawrence Abunaw, a Partner at PwC Cameroon, said that given the theme of this year’s meeting, they sought to host the summit in Rwanda to learn from the country’s transformational journey. “There is a lot to learn from Rwanda’s transformation. They have a vision for the country and how to go about it,” he said. Speaking at the opening of the conference, Rwanda Development Board Chief Executive Clare Akamanzi explained that among the key contributors to the growth is leadership as well as choices, unity, thinking big, and accountability. Participants interact at the conference yesterday. Other contributors to growth she noted, include capacity building, zero tolerance to corruption, and creating valuable partnerships. She noted that Rwanda is a big believer in regional integration as a way to open up the economy and make in more attractive to investment from across the world. Akamanzi called on the participants to consider the multiple investment opportunities in the country. The summit comes at a time the organisation has just launched the Annual Global CEO survey, which among other things, showed that a large proportion of African CEOs are ‘somewhat confident’ or ‘very confident’ about their organisation’s prospects for revenue growth over the next three years. Participants applaud for Clare Akamazi after addressing the conference The 7th edition of Africa Business Agenda 2019 report by PWC showed that African CEOs identified operational efficiencies, organic growth and the launch of new products and services as their primary drivers of revenue growth. The results of the PwC Annual Global survey suggested that business leaders, particularly those in Africa, are less certain about expansion outside their current markets, with CEOs more focused on achieving operational efficiencies and organic growth with existing operations. RDB CEO Clare Akamanzi (2nd Right) in a group photo with PWC officials In a recent interview with The New Times, Nadine Tinen, Territory Senior Partner, PwC Sub Saharan Francophone Africa, said that many organisations are adopting a wait-and-see approach and there were several countries that stand to gain from trade tensions elsewhere. “While these developments introduce new obstacles to business and trade, there are also fresh prospects for revenue growth emerging due to new trade arrangements such as the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). As a result, 36 per cent of African CEOs interviewed indicated they plan to enter a new market over the next 12 months as a growth strategy,” Tinen said. PwC Sub Saharan Francophone Africa has over 30 partners and 650 staff and serves over 3,000 clients. It has 10 country hubs. The 10 country hubs are based in Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Chad, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Madagascar. They are discussing innovative ways to develop their business and increase relevance. PwC Sub Saharan Francophone Africa is part of the PwC global network of firms in 158 countries with over 250,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services. In Africa, the firm is among the largest providers of professional services with close to 400 partners and over 9,000 people in 34 countries. In Rwanda, PwC has 80 staff offering professional services to both the private and public sector. The summit is themed around ‘Reimagining the Possible’ editor@newtimesrwanda.com
