Survival of the Agile: African Business Leaders on Scaling in Volatility

In an era defined by economic uncertainty, currency fluctuations, and rapid technological change, a central question confronts Africa’s business leaders: how do you grow a company without breaking it? At a recent high-level panel discussion moderated by veteran broadcaster Barry Manandi, four diverse executives offered a unified answer: strategic agility, relentless customer focus, and resilient leadership are no longer advantages but absolute necessities for survival and growth.

The discussion, titled “Scaling Up and Staying Relevant in a Volatile Market Environment,” brought together perspectives from logistics, commerce, lifestyle branding, and economic policy. It peeled back the layers on the challenges of operating in markets like Zimbabwe and South Africa, where volatility is a constant feature of the business landscape.

By Francis S. Bingandadi FintechReview.africa Editor

The Core Challenge: Scaling Amid Instability
The panel immediately identified the paradox of modern African business. “The ambition to scale is universal, but the ground is constantly shifting,” stated Chris Mugaga, CEO of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce. He pointed to macroeconomic headwinds like currency instability and inflation as forces that can unravel a growth plan overnight. “You cannot scale using a rigid, five-year blueprint imported from a stable economy. Your business model must be inherently flexible.”

This sentiment was echoed on the front lines of industry. Thelma Chimbganda, CEO of Beyond Borders Logistics, detailed how her companies navigate last-mile delivery and cross-border trade. “Volatility in fuel prices, border regulations, and foreign exchange directly hits our bottom line daily,” she said. “Scaling for us means building systems that are robust enough to handle volume but agile enough to pivot routes, suppliers, or payment methods at a moment’s notice.”

The Human Element: Leadership and Mindset
A striking theme was the shift from purely operational tactics to psychological and leadership strategies. Nyengeterai Mhaka, a Global Reinvention Strategist, argued that relevance begins internally. “A volatile market first destabilizes the leader’s mind,” she said. “Scaling successfully requires a leadership mindset that embraces reinvention. You must be willing to obsolete your own products or processes before the market does it for you.”

This focus on empowered mindset extends to teams and customers. Miss Chindiya (Michelina Chindiya), a content creator and former wealth manager, translated this principle to personal branding and customer engagement. “In the lifestyle space, relevance is currency,” she noted. “You scale your influence not by shouting louder, but by listening more intently. When economic pressure hits your audience—especially women managing households—your content must pivot to solve their new, urgent problems. Empathy is a scalable asset.”

Practical Strategies for Resilient Growth
The panel converged on several actionable strategies for building scalable, shock-resistant businesses:

Modular and Asset-Light Scaling: Chimbganda emphasized avoiding over-leveraged, fixed-asset growth. “We scale through partnerships and tech-enabled networks, not just by owning more trucks. This lets us expand our footprint without carrying all the capital risk.”

Diversifying Revenue Streams: Mugaga highlighted this as a non-negotiable for chamber members. “Don’t scale a single point of failure. The business that relies on one product, one client, or one supply chain is the first to fall. True scaling now means diversifying your income sources as you grow.”

Leveraging Data for Anticipation: The leaders agreed that intuition is no longer enough. “Data is your radar in the storm,” said Mhaka. “We use it to track shifting consumer sentiments and workplace trends, allowing for proactive reinvention rather than reactive panic.”

Embedding Financial Prudence: From her finance background, Miss Chindiya stressed foundational hygiene. “Whether you’re a startup or a conglomerate, ruthless cash flow management and conservative financial planning create the buffer needed to weather downturns and seize opportunities.”

The Role of Ecosystem and Collaboration
A final critical insight was the rejection of solitary growth. The panelists underscored that in volatile environments, ecosystems triumph over lone wolves.

“No single entity can control the macro-environment,” concluded Mugaga. “Scaling relevance is a collaborative project between business, government, and civil society. At the ZNCC, we foster this dialogue to create a more predictable operating landscape for all.”

Moderator Barry Manandi closed the session by observing that the discussion had moved beyond mere survival tactics. “What we’ve heard today is a blueprint for a new kind of African enterprise,” he said. “One that views volatility not as a barrier to scale, but as the very context within which resilient, relevant, and ultimately dominant businesses are built.”

The consensus was clear: in Africa’s volatile markets, the companies that will scale and endure are those that build agility into their DNA, lead with empathetic clarity, and understand that growth and resilience are two sides of the same coin.