When Andrew Chibuye meets with his fellow members of the Twin Palm Bike Club, which he helped form and leads, on their next biking adventure through the tarred streets of eastern Lusaka, his peers will toast to one of their own being crowned as PWC’s Country Managing Partner for Zambia.
Despite Andrew himself admitting that accounting was never his first choice as he had flirted with the idea of becoming an engineer, according to an interview he gave with Daily Mail, following in his father Gabriel Chibuye’s footsteps appears to be a life of blessings come full circle. His father, who according to his interview was one of the first qualified chartered accountants in Zambia and rose to the high echelons partner of one of the other “Big Four”, Deloitte Zambia.
As with his nemeses in the other big three that include Jason Kazilimani of KPMG, Humphrey Mulenga of Deloitte, and Patrick Mawire of EY, Andrew’s career has seen him build his career with exposure to international practice following a stint with PwC Edinburgh, Scotland which he fondly recalls. “The international experience gained has helped me tremendously to this day”, he said in the interview with Daily Mail.
His passion for personal pursuits is analogous to Goldman Sach’s CEO, David Solomon who not only heads one of the biggest banks in America but is also a part-time DJ. “Assembling with bike club into an association was not easy because you had to assemble a number of people to be part of the association”, he recounted in a conversation with the Founder of Financial Insight when he recalled what it took to have the Twin Palm Bike Club registered. His commitment to a cause is evident is how sturdily he has risen to the top job at PwC.
Andrew is not without ambition. Despite his vied for the ZiCA presidency job during their last round of elections that saw the coronation of Jason Kazilimani as its President. However, the MBA graduate of Manchester Business School which is known for critical thinking and is one of the top 10 business schools in the UK has been focused on carving out his own destiny.
His face is now amongst the leaders of the Big Four who must know carve out a strategic path that has been fraught by a private sector that has been weakening and the chase for lucrative contracts that actually pay becoming more bloody. Unlike during his father’s era before him, his second choice’s professional landscape is more competitive as entrants such as HLB Zambia who have taken the fight to the Big Four have made it even more exciting when it comes to closing deals. Fortunately for Andrew, this appointment comes at a time when the critical thinking type of leadership that is inspired by his alma mater is required to traverse an uncertain landscape. Financial Insight wishes him well in his adventure.