Transforming Economic Realities into Market Opportunities

The Covid-19 crisis has affected societies and economies globally, and some big economies like China continue the fight against the pandemic which continues to make its toll on the world. Crises such as the global financial crisis and Covid-19 bring with them positives and negatives, while permanently reshaping the world economy. As the lingering effects of the pandemic continue to amplify downside risks and creating new ones, change at this scale also creates new openings for managing systematic challenges and ways to build back better.

The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce is running the year 2023 under the theme: “Transforming Economic Realities into Market Opportunities”.

Resilient and adaptive organisations do take full advantage of economic realities, challenges and problems, by transforming them into opportunities.

The theme is a predecessor to the 2022 theme: “Bolstering Resilience and Innovativeness for Sustainable Growth”, which guided the activities and discussions in the prior year for the Chamber.

Economies around the world were shocked and damaged over the course of the years 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Global capitalism had been brewing conflicts among the major powers (the United States, China, Russia, and the European Union) for some time as their relative strengths and vulnerabilities shifted.

To this day, powerful crosscurrents are confronting the world with leaders charting a course for their institutions and the planet.

One inescapable reality is that decarbonising the global economy is a monumental task, with far-reaching economic trade-offs that will challenge countries, industries, companies and individuals. Another is the growing impact of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) movement, as it causes major investors, and the companies that hold in their portfolios, to rethink the risks of traditional business models and the opportunities for more sustainable value creation in the future.

Sub-Saharan African countries and other emerging market economies are going through a phase of debt-distress and with the continued tightening of the global financial conditions, the cost-of-capital will rise further negatively affecting corporate investment in the instance.

With high unemployment levels and the majority of the population employed in the lower-end of the value chains, consumer demand will remain depressed in the current state given also the rising poverty levels in the lower-income and middle-income countries in terms of the number of people.

According to the World Bank’s April 2022 Global Poverty Update, the number of people living in extreme poverty increased from 420 million people in 2018 to 424 million people in 2019. In a different report in 2022, the Covid-19 was said to have pushed about 70 million more people into the extreme poverty category.

The reality is that the technological developments driven by the Fourth Industrial Revolution are pushing for more business transactions to be conducted online.

Embracing the rapidly changing technology, industries and social patterns and processes due to increasing interconnectivity and smart automation, an organisation’s trajectory and success in the modern world will be defined accordingly. Fundamental shifts are taking place in how the global production and supply network operates through ongoing automation of traditional manufacturing and industrial practices.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is representing a social, political and economic shift from the digital age of the late 1990s and early 2000s to an era of embedded connectivity distinguished by the omni-use and commonness of technological use throughout society.

Market opportunities have been created and are being created through the technologically inspired global transformation.

We are now living in a global village with a wider market that can be reached by just a click of a button and businesses are taking advantage of such developments. Regular review of strategies and aligning organisational strategies with global economic realities, even at local level, will in itself create new market opportunities that can only reward the brave.

Economic realities should not be ignored by an organisation at all.

The demand for products and services offered by an organisation is affected by the real and perceived competition, need, and the macroeconomic situation. As the Voice of Business, the Chamber’s notion on the Theme for 2023 is centered on touching lives and bridging societies in an economy that cries for oneness and collaboration for transformative action. Globalisation has continuously shaped and restructured the world system by creating new economic orders. However, bad the situation may be, the ability to identify problems as opportunities is key to the development of solutions through new products and services.

It is of paramount importance that in this ever-evolving world economy, an organisation adopts a growth mindset. Rather than seeing challenges as burdensome forces of opposition, seeing problems as opportunities would ignite the zeal to learn, grow, improve and adjust in a way that leaves the organisation better off.

Ryan Holiday, a business person and writer, once said; “The obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition.” What if your organisation or as an individual, has the ability to flip obstacles into opportunities?

Managers have little choice about facing challenges, whether they come from competitors, economic conditions, or customer demands. However, they can choose whether they treat those challenges as problems or opportunities. Companies and leaders that can lean into change are able to set the tone for the new era of running a successful business and driving innovation. Take a look at companies like Meta, for example.

Driven by consumer shopping behaviours, Meta underwent significant rebranding exercises and restructured to meet the needs of their digitally savvy customers. Change in consumer behaviour and economic conditions are inevitable. Instead of resisting, embrace change and capitalise on new market opportunities.

Through the ZNCC’s Centre of Excellence, the economic realities that businesses will be facing throughout the year 2023 will come to light and entrepreneurs are encouraged to follow the Chamber’s publications in the Business Weekly Column.

The Column will focus on discussing, educating, informing, lobbying, advocating, and debating on economic issues in Zimbabwe, the region and beyond.

At ZNCC, we value stakeholder feedback and our stakeholders can reach out to us by visiting our Website: zncc.co.zw.

Article produced by the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce Centre of Excellence: The Voice of Business.-ebusinessweekly