A total of 171 African CEOs were interviewed as a part of the survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Out of them, 22 cited Kenya as the most important market for growth opportunities excluding their home markets. Similarly, 24 of them cited the US as the most important market for growth opportunities.

Most of the companies whose CEOs were interviewed are based in South Africa with an annual revenue of more than $100 million.

PwC Kenya assurance leader Kang’e Saiti told the media that, “The CEOs are looking for new markets but they are approaching the new markets with some level of caution. The participants are weighted by the size of the GDP, and so a lot of responses were from South Africa. So if they are identifying economies outside of their home, Kenya, given its level of stability, remains quite popular.”

According to reports, African countries averaging a consistent gross domestic product of 7 percent such as Kenya are attracting foreign investments and creating numerous job opportunities. A survey conducted by Ernst Young (EY) revealed that in 2018, Kenya was the biggest beneficiary of FDI in the region, attracting investments worth $2 billion that led to the creation of 16,000 new jobs in the country.

Another report by PwC revealed that at least 25 percent of CEOs in Africa expect the global economy to further decline during the next 12 months. Among 83 CEOs interviewed including Kenya’s, only 39 of them are confident of their firm’s growth prospect over the next 12 months.

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The study also conducted a survey on 170 Southeast Asia-headquartered fintechs across 16 key sub sectors, which include payments, blockchain, money transfer, data analytics and robo advisory, reported New Straits Times.  

Partner and Malaysia Financial Services Banking & Capital Markets Advisory Leader at Ernst & Young Advisory Services Sdn Bhd Shankar Kannabiran, said: “In line with this, continuous dialogue with ecosystem players and the drive to push policy momentum further to ensure our financial markets remain competitive and secure are key.”

“Venture capitalists and banks are often the first port of call for fund-seekers, although most will not take on the credit risk of companies with a track record of less than three years.

“That said, there are many incubator and accelerator programs, and even government channels that FinTech firms can leverage for seed funding.”

19% of fintechs in Malaysia are content that there is full support from the government in terms of funding, 50% of respondents say there is medium to moderate levels of funding support, and 27% believe there is low support.

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