While companies around the world are more downbeat about the economic future, optimism has increased in Africa, according to the results of a new survey
The PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of global chief executives showed that 57 per cent of bosses expect their business to grow, up from 50 per cent last year. This is in stark contrast to the rest of the world where almost half of bosses interviewed by the accounting firm forecasted that the global economy will decline this year.
The number of business leaders that are "very confident" their firms will grow has also fallen, from 48 per cent to 40 per cent, however, more than half plan to create new jobs in 2012. The confidence of chief executives "is decidedly down as they deal with the aftershocks to the recession," said Dennis Nally, chairman of PwC International. "The optimism that had been building cautiously since 2008 has begun to recede."
The survey was released as the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss mountain resort Davos got under way. Once again, the forum's agenda this year was dominated by the continuing economic crisis.
