CEOs Most Respected Company Survey 2009 kicks off

Nairobi: PricewaterhouseCoopers today launched the 10th edition of the CEO’s Most Respected Company in East Africa survey, which is themed “Rethinking and Reshaping the new normal”. Business leaders around the region will be asked to nominate their Most Respected Company and their opinion on a raft of issues that affect the survival of major businesses in East Africa.

Charles Muchene, Survey Director and Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers Kenya said, “East Africa’s Most Respected Companies are the mainstay of the region’s economy. Over the past year, they have proved themselves to be generally resilient and well run. CEOs have faced an avalanche of issues beyond the global recession, including political turmoil, power rationing and adverse weather. This year’s Most Respected Companies will undoubtedly be those that have been agile in the face of extremely tough operating conditions.

“We are by no means out of the woods yet, but the CEO’s Most Respected Company Survey and Awards is an opportunity to take stock and celebrate. This is not just about celebrating successful survival strategies over the past year, but also a decade of business excellence and new frontiers. If we reflect on the winners of this award, they have led East African businesses in integrating the region and – for the most part – in creating large, resilient and well run indigenous businesses.”

The most respected companies are nominated in a survey of business leaders from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, who also determine the values and attributes that are important to them when defining respect. It remains the only award in the region where winners are independently peer-reviewed by the region’s business leadership.

Linus Gitahi, Group CEO, Nation Media Group said, “The 10th anniversary of the survey and the awards is a milestone for East Africa. It is a reason for us to celebrate as a business community to recognise the impact that we have on the economic development of the region. It is also a chance to recognise previous winners – being nominated by your peers and especially to win an award is no small feat.”

The findings from the business issues section of the survey will again form part of a global study of CEOs conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2010. The issues raised about East Africa will be covered in a dedicated report for the region, due to be launched around the World Economic Forum for Africa in May 2010.

Both surveys and reports will be themed “Rethinking and Reshaping the new normal”. They will look at how organisations are positioning for growth in a challenging economic environment. And they will seek to identify the issues that CEOs are grappling with, as well as the new strategies being adopted to cope with the post recession economy.

Kuria Muchiru, Country Senior Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers Kenya said, “Business leaders are looking around the corner and positioning themselves for the ‘new normal’. The post recession global economy is going to look very different, with new markets in the East in ascendancy and previously powerful free economy forces, such as hedge funds and private equity in decline. Savvy CEOs in East Africa are already thinking about their position in this new order.”

The Most Respected Company will be awarded at a gala dinner on 20th November 2009 in Nairobi. Preceding this, the top CEOs in the region will be gathering for an afternoon round table discussion looking at the different challenges they are facing in “Rethinking and Reshaping the new normal”.

The survey is run independently by a research house, Synovate and the Nation Media Group is the media partner.