The-Accountant-Jul-Aug-2016
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INSTITUTE NEWS<br />
By CPA Patrick Kabuya, Chairman – South Africa Chapter<br />
pkabuya@worldbank.org<br />
THE INAUGURAL ANNUAL CHAPTER SEMINAR - SOUTH AFRICA<br />
ACCOUNTANTS<br />
TO ENHANCE<br />
CONTRIBUTION<br />
TO BUILDING<br />
INSTITUTIONS<br />
<strong>The</strong>me: emerging pathways for the<br />
new generation of accountants<br />
Accounting profession is the<br />
lifeblood of financial systems<br />
and should play a leading role<br />
in building public institutions”,<br />
said H.E Ambassador Jean<br />
Kamau, High Commissioner of Kenya in<br />
South Africa when opening the inaugural<br />
Annual ICPAK Chapter Seminar in<br />
South Africa on May 4 - 6, <strong>2016</strong>. Quoting<br />
from President Obama’s speech (Ghana<br />
2009), “Africa does not need strong men,<br />
but strong Institutions”, she challenged<br />
the delegates (and the accountancy<br />
profession) to enhance their contribution<br />
in strengthening public institutions in<br />
order to improve lives of citizens.<br />
<strong>The</strong> successful Seminar, attended<br />
by 35 delegates’ majority from public<br />
sector in Kenya, offered an opportunity<br />
for delegates from Kenya to interact and<br />
share experiences with their counterparts<br />
in South Africa. <strong>The</strong> seminar focused<br />
on sharing experiences on a number<br />
of valuable and relevant topics by<br />
speakers from different industries<br />
and countries: infrastructure funding<br />
options, opportunities and challenges<br />
for accountants venturing in diaspora,<br />
taxation regime in South Africa, and<br />
evolving role of Chief Finance Officer in<br />
21st century. As I listened and contributed<br />
to the discussions, I identified and noted<br />
three specific ideas of how accountants<br />
can accelerate their contributions in<br />
strengthening institutions: my takeaways.<br />
Firstly, the accountants especially those<br />
in public sector should actively change<br />
their roles to serve as co-drivers in<br />
strategy formulation and implementation<br />
in their respective institutions: a shift<br />
from currently presumed back-office<br />
role. Instead of just providing financial<br />
data, accountants should proactively<br />
provide management with evidence based<br />
relevant and reliable information and<br />
sustainable value add solutions that would<br />
52 JULY - AUGUST <strong>2016</strong>
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