{"id":843653,"date":"2025-11-23T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=843653"},"modified":"2025-11-21T15:49:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T13:49:29","slug":"the-big-risks-keeping-south-african-business-leaders-up-at-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/843653\/the-big-risks-keeping-south-african-business-leaders-up-at-night\/","title":{"rendered":"The big risks keeping South African business leaders up at night"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South African business leaders are deeply concerned about the nation\u2019s poor economic growth, which is expected to remain a major issue for years to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is according to Aon’s latest edition of its Global Risk Management Survey, which tracks the most significant issues affecting business decision-makers worldwide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economic slowdown remains the primary concern in South Africa, with 78% of respondents having suffered a loss as a result. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa\u2019s growth has remained subdued in recent years and is only expected to reach around 1% in 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Political risks climbed three places to be the second most pressing risk for businesses, with the rise of trade and geopolitical challenges reflecting growing instability across regions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has a massive impact on supply chains, regulatory environments, and financial performance for businesses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aon noted that trade tensions and geopolitical instability have intensified dramatically over the last two years, which has slowed economic growth and created risks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConsumer demand and business attitudes typically change, which can immediately impact revenue,\u201d said Clayton Ellary of Aon South Africa.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the same time, raising capital can become more expensive and difficult if market liquidity diminishes, drastically affecting profitability,\u201d said Clayton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In spite of rising volatility, most organisations remain underprepared, with only 14% respondents tracking their exposure to the top ten risks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“From evolving global scenarios to shifting economic realities, these forces are converging and impacting balance sheets,\u201d added Ellary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBuilding resilience through analytics and scenario planning is essential for navigating this environment.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead, most business leaders expect that their current risks will remain in place by 2028, with economic slowdown and political risk again holding the top two positions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rank<\/th>2025 Top Risks<\/th>2028 Future Risks<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1<\/td>Economic Slowdown \/ Slow Recovery<\/td>Economic Slowdown \/ Slow Recovery<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>Political Risk<\/td>Political Risk<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>Cash Flow \/ Liquidity Risk<\/td>Cash Flow \/ Liquidity Risk<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>Business Interruption<\/td>Increasing Competition<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>Increasing Competition<\/td>Commodity Price Risk \/ Scarcity of Materials<\/td><\/tr>
6<\/td>Damage to Reputation \/ Brand<\/td>Cyber Attacks \/ Data Breach<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>Property Damage<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
8<\/td>Exchange Rate Fluctuation<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
9<\/td>Workforce Shortage<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
10<\/td>Interest Rate Fluctuation<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Not like the rest of the world<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

South Africa is not like the rest of the world, where cyber risks were the top risk in the global survey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyber risk dropped out of South Africa\u2019s top ten entirely despite digital threats evolving and becoming more persuasive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s alarming to see cyber risk slip down the rankings when the challenges remain deeply connected to every aspect of business resilience,” said Zamani Ngidi from Aon South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 “When you look at the top ten risks in this year’s survey, both business interruption and damage to reputation can be a direct result of a cyber incident. Treating these risks as isolated issues creates blind spots for organisations.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that as AI continues to transform how organisations operate, it is essential for organisations to develop a strategic board-level response to boost resilience amid the change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One positive is that cyber attacks and data breaches are a concern for managers when considering their 2028 predictions. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Source: Aon<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aon’s latest global study reveals the biggest risks that affect business decision-makers worldwide, with South Africa differing from its global peers. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":843660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[9906,10526],"class_list":["post-843653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-aon","tag-sandton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843653"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":843892,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843653\/revisions\/843892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}