The mood among local top executives is the focus in this edition of the Business Day Spotlight. Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Sebastien de Place, partner at Forvis Mazars.De Place highlights the latest Forvis Mazars C-suite barometer, revealing a surprisingly optimistic outlook among African executives. While global peers grapple with geopolitical uncertainties, African leaders — long accustomed to operating in volatile environments — are leaning into resilience, localised talent and private-sector solutions.According to De Place, technology and AI rank as the highest priority across the C-suite. Even then, actual implementation remains at ground zero. He says there is a stark contrast between leadership aspirations and daily operations, with finance teams still relying on heavy manual processes for monthly reporting rather than embracing automation.Businesses are also grappling with an increasingly complex operating environment. To combat inflation and supply chain friction, companies are aggressively optimising their operating costs.De Place says a major trend is the localisation of production and the outsourcing of non-core administrative functions, such as accounting, allowing leadership to focus entirely on core revenue generation.He also gives the foreign investor perspective on South Africa, saying multinational groups, particularly long-standing French firms, treat South Africa as a long-term strategic anchor rather than a short-term play. These organisations heavily localise their operations, often employing a majority of staff locally, and view the country’s relatively advanced infrastructure as the ultimate gateway for broader African expansion.Producer: Bulelani NonyukelaBusiness Day Spotlight is an Arena Podcasts production.