PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has announced plans to invest Ksh. 1.294 trillion ($12 billion) over the next five years in its New Equation strategy. The strategy responds to fundamental changes in the world including technological disruption, climate change, fractured geopolitics, and the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The New Equation is based on analysis of global trends and thousands of conversations with clients and stakeholders. It builds on more than a decade of sustained revenue growth and continued investment.
The investment is expected to create over 100,000 new jobs. Initial commitments include new ESG (Environment Social and Governance) Centres of Excellence, Leadership Institutes, accelerated deployment of emerging technologies and increased investment to support audit quality.
The New Equation will focus on two interconnected needs.
1. Building Trust: Organizations increasingly need to earn trust across a wide range of topics that are important to their stakeholders. Success depends on fundamental shifts in the way executives think, organizational culture, systems, and ambition.
2. Delivering sustained outcomes: In an environment where competition and the risk of disruption are more intense than ever, and societal expectations have never been greater. Businesses need to change faster and more thoroughly to attract capital, talent, and customers.
PwC’s plan to achieve the strategy goals is bringing together a passionate, diverse community to help organizations build trust and deliver sustained outcomes. The model enables investment at scale in the combination of capabilities that is essential to delivering quality and impact for clients, stakeholders, and society. Currently the firm employs about 284,000 people globally.
PwC plans to make the following investments
1. ESG: PwC will expand Centres of Excellence for specialists on key ESG topics, including climate risk and supply chain, as well as create a global ESG Academy which will enable all PwC partners and staff to integrate the fundamentals of ESG into their work.
2. Quality: PwC will continue to invest to further enhance quality across its businesses. This will include Ksh. 107.8 billion ($1billion) dedicated to accelerate deployment of technology that further automates the implementation of quality frameworks in audit. This additional technology investment builds on the ongoing focus on quality, supported by rigorous methodology and training across all lines of service.
3. Leadership Institutes: Today’s leaders need new skills to help lead through and manage uncertainty, build inclusive cultures, and support transformation. New Leadership Institutes will be created to support clients and stakeholders. The first Institute will be based in the United States and will empower more than 10,000 of today and tomorrow’s C-suite leaders, executives, and Board members to build trust.
Speaking on the New Equation Strategy, Dion Shango, CEO for PwC Africa said, “PwC Africa is excited by the opportunity that The New Equation represents for our clients, employees and other stakeholders. The launch of our new global strategy comes at a time of unprecedented change. It will enable PwC teams to support clients and other stakeholders across the African continent to move toward greater sustainability and more inclusive growth, as well as to drive their digital evolution.”