The bigger picture

The first survey, from Aon, takes a global view—including Sub Saharan Africa—and highlights some of the newer risks such as reputation and cyber. Interestingly, it also says that African businesses are increasing their focus on risk management as a vital component of their strategy. This is echoed in Commercial Risk Africa’s own survey, Risk Frontiers—Africa. Although the full results will not be published until the end of May, it is clear that risk managers are seeing an increased focus on risk management. They also believe their own organisations continue to face escalating risks. No wonder then that risk management is increasingly important across the continent. However, that produces challenges in itself. There is plenty of evidence that there are simply not enough risk managers to go around.hideThat’s great news if you are in the market for a new job, not so great if you are looking to build your own team and are struggling to find the right recruits. Poaching from your rivals may be a short-term fix—but they are equally as likely to poach right back, which really helps nobody. The same pattern is happening in the insurance sector. Employment and unemployment are producing major challenges for growing businesses across the continent. High unemployment figures are producing disgruntled populations, who apply for jobs only to find they are underqualified. Disaffected youths are a challenge for the broader community but can also be a direct challenge to business if they choose to take to the streets to vent their anger. The xenophobia displayed in South Africa recently is a chilling reminder of what can happen when tempers flare out of control. All the more reason, then, to celebrate 40 years of Ecowas—the west African community body that aims to bring west African countries together and to increase cross-border developments. The end of this month also sees the election of a new president at the African Development Bank (AfDB)—a hugely important appointment, not least because of the many key decisions taken by the organisation in terms of future development across the continent. The AfDB recently relocated to Abidjan and this month we take a look at this strongly emerging west African country to gain a snapshot view of what is happening there. We also include a look at its insurance markets, as the insurance industry across Africa prepares to head to Tunis for the African Insurance Organisation’s annual general assembly. Tunis suffered a terrorist attack earlier in the year but its government says it is fighting back. Like so many African countries, terrorism continues to be a scourge that threatens business, growth and the prospect of more employment. Terrorists find easy prey among the unemployed, which brings us back to the challenges facing government, together with businesses across the region, to deliver strong growth. So it is no wonder that business is seeing increasing emphasis on risk management and the benefits that it can help drive. This is not necessarily about profits but about robust structures that risk managers can truly help to build.

The bigger picture

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