ACCA Zambia under the stewardship of Janice Matwi has continued in its quest to bring focus to the accountancy profession by hosting the first-ever ACCA Affiliates celebratory event which was held on Thursday 5th March 2020 at Lusaka’s Radisson Blu Hotel.
The evening that was aptly themed “Future Ready: Becoming the Business Leader Zambia Needs”, brought together recent ‘graduates’ of the prestigious qualification to a professional networking sit-down with Fellows and Seniors of the profession to have hearty conversations about the human element of becoming ACCA.
This carefully crafted opportunity allowed affiliates to have an opportunity to be with potential mentors which ironically is part of the work experience requirement that the ACCA education roadmap demands. ACCA Zambia believes this continues to be an important part of the required guidance and motivation for affiliates who progress onto membership.
The ACCA road to fame is fraught with many challenges. Affiliates were given an insight into the making of Ms. Brigitte Muyenga a proud Global Council Member whose navigation to full ACCA was anything but easy. However, she overcame all obstacles and the qualification open doors and now has her sitting at the high table of corporate giants (The Boardroom). It is here that she is able to apply the strategic knowledge that she has gained through her qualification and life management skills that has made the difference and continues to sustain her at the top.
As if Brigitte’s account was not enough, affiliates were treated to a passionate professional and life account by the head of a premier accounting firm that ensured that Janice’s vision of having informal settings such as this one could become part of the key ingredient that would enable them chart their way to professionals.
The managing partner of Deloitte Humphrey Mulenga he gave affiliates an insight into how he became ACCA. His nostalgic tale showed the human process of attaining the qualification and his ascendancy to the helm of the Zambian Chapter of Deloitte was not short of adventure and taking chances. This is something affiliates never get to read about in the volume of textbooks.
Furthermore, what made his account even more interesting was he did his ACCA at a time when computers were not in use during the qualification process. This is the sort of storytelling that affiliates needed to hear as it left one believing “Yes I can” be ACCA.
ACCA has evolved with changing global times. From traditional paper-based exams to computer-based ones which have ensured that professionals who pass these exams are ready for the real world. The ACCA qualification continues to strategically position graduates to be leaders of businesses.
With a supervisory approach, ACCA is endeavoring to make it easier for studying professionals to have a seamless integration to not only accomplishing their academic requirements but to also ensure they ease into membership.
The pride of using ACCA after one’s name cannot be understated. This is the holy grail of many of its professionals. This is why Janice and her team work tirelessly to provide 27 seven customer support to students. They understand that the qualification ultimately enables professionals to globally connect with other professionals possess the ACCA qualification.
Going forward, this is the adopted approach that Janice and her team will be looking to harness as they attempt to change the face of a profession that has all too long been seen as farfetched and inaccessible.
Janice believes in ACCA and the global impact it has. In her push to build the next generation of business leaders to this effect hence her announcement during the event that ACCA Zambia would extending invitations to CPD events to all affiliates which would give them access to real-world experiences and players in the market.
She is confident that with the Zambian Qualifications body endorsing ACCA at level 9 which is equivalent to a Master’s degree makes affiliates ready to take on real-world challenges while being part of a global community. What is gratifying is that 86% of employers believe this is the finance profession of choice that they can trust which further adds to her team’s determination.
When it came to giving advice to affiliates in terms of future focus on careers, Janice advised the affiliates of the importance of reinventing themselves as it has been identified that the following areas would offer career opportunities:
• The assurance advocacy
• Business transformation
• Data navigation
• Digital playmaker
• the sustainable trailblazer
All the current modules the ACCA program aptly prepare the graduating professionals for these emerging global trends.
However, Janice lamented at the lack of use of the digital solutions that her team has heavily invested in. The online CPD platform only had 8 trainees accessing the free platform during the last year which was a source of concern considering that the digital landscape was fast evolving hence the importance for training professionals accessing the free portal.