BUSINESSES must look beyond raising prices and instead identify inefficiencies, improve productivity and invest smarter to protect profitability.
UNDP Resident Representative Henrik Franklin said businesses needed greater intelligence about their operations, particularly understanding where they are losing money, what drives their costs and what can be done differently.
He said businesses should increasingly find ways to work smarter, with technology becoming central to improving productivity and profitability. Franklin cited practical interventions including smarter refrigeration, efficient irrigation, improved logistics and better energy management, while noting that renewable energy could also reduce recurring operating costs when properly designed.
However, he cautioned businesses against investing in technology simply because it is fashionable.
“A modern, resilient business cannot respond to every cost increase simply by raising prices,” Franklin said at the Powering Profit Symposium held alongside the Eswatini International Trade Fair (EITF).
For UNDP, the objective is not to install solar panels for the sake of installing solar panels. Renewable energy must make business sense,” he said.
Franklin said the right technology, matched to a specific business need and supported by appropriate financing, could reduce operating costs for years, while poorly designed investments could become an additional burden.
He said the bigger opportunity was what businesses could do with savings generated through efficiency. If reduced electricity costs were redirected towards expansion or hiring, he said, profitability and sustainability could reinforce each other.
Franklin said digitalisation, artificial intelligence and sustainable finance should ultimately help businesses operate more effectively and direct investment towards productive and sustainable opportunities.
