By Olabisi Olaleye
Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), said that finance professionals of the future should blend technical skills and strategic insights for an effective delivery.
Speaking recently during the launch of ACCA Qualification event, Country Head, ACCA Nigeria, Mrs. Toyin Ademola noted that the future due to the fast evolving nature of businesses, and development of new technologies, have made employers to desire financial professionals who can meet business needs, not just for today but the future.
And that alone was the rationale behind the redesigning of ACCA’s qualifications module to meet with the future need of finance industry.
Ademola maintained that the module covers courses for ACCA’s qualifications will run through 2017 and 2018. Adding that the launch was done in collaboration with the global headquarters, alongside a number offices around the world was important because Nigeria is one of the key markets for ACCA .
“For us at ACCA, we are concerned that the professional accountants have the requisite skills, this is what led to the re-design of our strategic business module.”
She further explained that ACCA works with tertiary institutions, O-Level colleges and the public to promote financial literacy from the basics.
However,she disclosed that one of the challenges facing the nation is the huge deficit in financial illiteracy saying that, “There is need for people who run businesses to have a basic financial understanding of accounting.”
Ademola further stressed that over the years ACCA has succeeded in increasing its corporate governance and ethics.
This she noted made ethics and professional modules compulsory before an ACCA trainer can be a member.
“For us, it is mandatory we continue to work with government and employers in order to ensure that they adhere to those rules and regulations.”
On the recent ACCA partnership with Financial Institution Training and Consulting (FITC),Ademola disclosed that the agreement would allow members of both bodies to get an added advantage from any interactions they want from ACCA’s membership with the University of London.
“Therefore, if members of FITC want to get a masters degree or wants to become an ACCA member, it makes it easier, and a faster transition.
“It is also about combining and sharing technical skills as well. We are currently working with a lot of universities across the country such as Fountain, Elizade, Babcock, Igbinedion, University of Lagos, Yaba College Technology, Osun State Polytechnic, Kwara State Polytechnic, and other tertiary institutions. It is not just these universities and polytechnics; we are working with the public.”
On his part, Director for ACCA, Sub -Saharan Africa, Jamil Amponah said the changes intend to meet the challenges of the 21st century’s disruptive economy.
According to him, the ground-breaking redesign of the ACCA Qualification gives students the forward-thinking strategic abilities and advanced skill-set required of modern professional accountants, as they play senior executive roles in business.
Adding that the innovations include ‘strategic professional level exams’, which will replace the existing professional level exams in September 2018, while new ‘Ethics and Professional Skills module’ would be introduced in October 2017.