{"id":63893,"date":"2025-11-06T17:41:50","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T17:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/firms-turn-to-mergers-to-scale-up-for-ai-future"},"modified":"2025-11-06T18:30:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T18:30:06","slug":"firms-turn-to-mergers-to-scale-up-for-ai-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/firms-turn-to-mergers-to-scale-up-for-ai-future","title":{"rendered":"firms turn to mergers to scale up for AI future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>African companies are accelerating merger and acquisition activity as CEOs race to build the scale and digital capacity needed for an AI-driven future.<\/p>\n<p>New findings from the KPMG 2025 Africa CEO Outlook show a sharp shift away from the caution that defined previous years, with executives now pursuing partnerships and expansion to position their firms for a rapidly changing technological landscape.<\/p>\n<p>The report indicates that 86 per cent of African CEOs are making or likely to make acquisitions within the next three years \u2014 a significant rise from 77 per cent in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>This appetite is now approaching global levels, where 89 per cent of CEOs expect to pursue deals. The study notes that this signals a stronger drive for partnerships and expansion as businesses seek greater scale and capability.<\/p>\n<p>This marks a departure from the risk-averse approach many African firms adopted in recent years, when economic pressures and political uncertainty led to more conservative growth strategies.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s CEOs are looking outward, using mergers and acquisitions to secure the technology, talent, and digital foundations required to compete in an AI-centred global economy.<\/p>\n<p>The report notes that African CEOs are acting from a position of growing confidence. Despite global volatility, 78 per cent expressed confidence in their companies\u2019 growth prospects, almost matching global sentiment.<\/p>\n<p>Many have already begun reshaping their strategies, with 69 per cent having adjusted their growth plans to respond to interconnected challenges across markets.<\/p>\n<p>According to the report, the need to build digital capacity is the main driver behind this shift.<\/p>\n<p>AI has become a top operational priority, and African firms are seeking external capabilities to accelerate adoption.<\/p>\n<p>The report observes that integrating AI into operations is now one of the continent\u2019s most pressing business concerns.<\/p>\n<p>CEOs are also under pressure to strengthen cybersecurity and navigate regulatory demands tied to new technologies.<\/p>\n<p>Ignatius Sehoole, CEO of KPMG South Africa and KPMG One Africa, said the region\u2019s leaders are responding proactively to technological change.<\/p>\n<p>He explained that as AI becomes more deeply embedded in daily business operations, CEOs are prioritising talent development, recognising that skills are being fundamentally redefined.<\/p>\n<p>With AI adoption rising across sectors, African firms are seeking partners that can bring digital infrastructure, advanced analytics, or AI-ready data capabilities. The push reflects a broader strategic shift, with companies preparing for long-term transformation rather than short-term survival.<\/p>\n<p>The report adds that although African CEOs remain aware of risks \u2014 including inflation, regulatory pressure, and cyber threats \u2014 they are increasingly choosing expansion over contraction.<\/p>\n<p>KPMG concludes that deal-making will remain central as businesses seek the scale and capability to compete in a digital-first economy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Lesotho<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. African companies are accelerating merger and acquisition activity as CEOs race to build the scale and digital capacity needed for an AI-driven future. New findings from the KPMG 2025 Africa CEO Outlook show a sharp shift away from the caution that defined previous years, with executives now pursuing partnerships and expansion to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":63892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-63893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>firms turn to mergers to scale up for AI future - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"African companies are accelerating merger and acquisition activity as CEOs race to build the scale and digital capacity ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/firms-turn-to-mergers-to-scale-up-for-ai-future\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"firms turn to mergers to scale up for AI future\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"African companies are accelerating merger and acquisition activity as CEOs race to build the scale and digital capacity ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/firms-turn-to-mergers-to-scale-up-for-ai-future\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-06T17:41:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-06T18:30:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/11\/sm_1762440981.749027.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/firms-turn-to-mergers-to-scale-up-for-ai-future#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/firms-turn-to-mergers-to-scale-up-for-ai-future\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"firms turn to mergers to scale up for AI future\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-06T17:41:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-06T18:30:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/firms-turn-to-mergers-to-scale-up-for-ai-future\"},\"wordCount\":451,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/firms-turn-to-mergers-to-scale-up-for-ai-future#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/11\/sm_1762440981.749027.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/firms-turn-to-mergers-to-scale-up-for-ai-future#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/firms-turn-to-mergers-to-scale-up-for-ai-future\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/firms-turn-to-mergers-to-scale-up-for-ai-future\",\"name\":\"firms turn to mergers to scale up for AI future - 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