Study shows accountants hopeful about Africa’s economic prospects
• As skill shortages remain a major concern
A report on ‘State of the Accountancy Profession in Africa’, developed by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has shown that Africa’s accountancy profession is optimistic about the economic future.
The report, #Stateofprofession, which presented a compelling and unique picture of the accountancy and finance ecosystem in Africa, revealed that 55 per cent of accountants are optimistic, while skill shortages, especially in the areas of technology and strategy were major concerns for respondents.
The research was analysed under four themes – capacity building, partnerships, influencing socio-economic development and future readiness of the profession.
The poll captured more than 1,750 professionals’ views about the profession’s contributions to the continent, as well as the challenges, threats and opportunities ahead.
The results revealed a paradox for the profession in building an ethical and sustainable business while lacking in environmental, social and governance (ESG) acumen.
About 57 per cent said it was limiting the involvement of Professional Accountancy Organisations (PAOs) and their members in the climate change and ESG agenda.
Alarmingly, 92 per cent of accountants working in the mining industry, said they do not see ESG among the industry’s top three future-altering trends, while 40 per cent of all surveyed members, highlighted the ability to incorporate climate change and ESG into financial reporting as a major skills gap.
The report asserted that partnerships were essential for the accountancy profession to be resilient and offered various calls to action for accountants, PAOs, stakeholders in the finance and accountancy ecosystem – including higher education institutions, the business community, public sector, standard-setters, as well as regulators, governments and policy makers.
Director of ACCA Africa, Jamil Ampomah, said: “Respondents’ views about ESG are certainly a wake-up call. Hurdles need to be overcome as accountancy professionals have a unique opportunity to lead ESG adoption in their organisations, in their own countries, right across Africa and globally. One of the strong recommendations in the report is for the profession to skill up here – the tools and qualifications are available to do this, so the opportunity is waiting to be grasped.”
Chief Executive Officer, PAFA, Alta Prinsloo, said: “If the accountancy profession is to be fit-for-future, it must be digital, contribute to socio-economic development and play a key role in building an ethical and sustainable business. To facilitate this, more and better collaboration is imperative – and that starts with national PAOs. PAFA stands ready to facilitate collaboration among PAOs and stakeholders to respond to the calls to action encapsulated in the report.”
Partner, PwC Nigeria and Strategy Lead for PwC West Market, Mary Iwelumo, also said: “We were startled by the finding that accountants did not expect ESG to have a meaningful impact on the profession over the next decade. At PwC, we had hoped that ESG as a business imperative would be universal, especially among professionals that have a seat and voice at the table of business leadership. This disquieting discovery must, therefore, galvanise all of us to a collaboration that will build an education system that equips, accountants to anticipate the future, prepare for and thrive in it.”
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