ACCA

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is a global professional accountancy body.

Articles

22 August 2017

The future of finance will require a convergence of risk and finance, says RMB CFO Markos Davias

“One of my mentors that has impacted my leadership style and journey from early in my career is Hugh Harrison, a partner I worked for at Deloitte. He is now our RMB Global Markets CFO, but even in this role he still challenges, advises and guides me. In him, I have always had someone whom I could trust to place the mirror in front of me. He is brutally honest but fair in his feedback and if it means he needs to make you a little emotional and teary eyed, so be it,” says RMB CFO Markos Davias, who harbours a passion for young accounting talent, promoting diversity and embracing cutting-edge technology. A solid centre-back, strong in the air, leading from the back, stopping goals at all costs – these are some of the phrases Markos uses to describe himself on the soccer field, and indeed, many of these phrases correlate with the CFO’s approach to leadership. “My family, more recently fatherhood, sport and specifically soccer have all had an influence on my life and career choices.”

15 August 2017

I always lead the charge, says Musa Magongo, CFO of SWACAA

“The time has come for the CFO to become an important executive member who pushes for value creation other than the normal traditional financial role,” says Musa Magongo, CFO of the Swaziland Civil Aviation Authority (SWACAA). “The CFO is expected to have a better understanding of the impact of each process, whether commercial or operational, and be able to provide the necessary advice and guidance to the technical team.” In his role, Musa oversees all of the financial management issues of SWACAA, from budget preparation and implementation to monitoring, treasury and reporting. While this includes a focus on both finance and strategy, he says the nature of the role means he spends a greater proportion of his time on strategy, and ensuring that the organisation’s overall strategy is implemented.

02 November 2016

Four top finance bosses reveal the reasons for their success on the continent

What does it take to be successful in the rest of Africa? We asked four CFOs who were nominated for the 2016 CFO Awards to share some tips. Here’s what Bikash Prasad from Olam International, Johan Geel from Afgri, Mohammed Abdool-Samad from Illovo, and Osman Arbee from Imperial Group had to say on the matter. Bikash Prasad (right): look at the long term Bikash Prasad has quickly moved through the ranks and last year became CFO for Africa and the Middle-East at Olam International, a global agri-business operating from seed to shelf. Bikash has been a long-standing supporter of CFO South Africa and the panel of judges voted him as winner or the 2016 Moving into Africa Award, which he received out of the hands of Standard Bank’s CIB CFO Luvuyo Masinda on 12 May 2016. We asked him what it takes to be successful in Africa. “Look at the long term. You might have challenges in the short term, with the global economic slowdown and the slowdown in China impacting the continent, but the long term is looking very bullish and positive.” “To operate in Africa, you have to be a noble corporate citizen. You cannot be non-compliant. You need to really believe in sustainability and get a license from the community you want to work in, not just an official license from the government you are dealing with. We hardly ever run into any trouble because of that approach. Recruiting and developing talent is also crucial.”

13 October 2016

It's time! Finance professionals flock to Finance Indaba Africa - #findaba16

The day that finance professionals have been looking forward to for many months has finally arrived - it is time for Finance Indaba Africa! With two days of learning, inspiration and unparalleled networking, the inaugural event has already established itself as the biggest conference and expo for African finance teams in the world. The numbers are impressive: 13 & 14 October 2016, Sandton Convention Centre, 5000 attendees, 120 sessions with speakers and discussions and 75 exhibitors.

27 April 2016

Finance Indaba 2016: CharterQuest CFO Case Study Competition draws the crowds

“Employers are seeking financial education that produces cutting edge and real world integrated technical, business and leadership acumen,” says Valentine Nti from CharterQuest, a silver partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. CharterQuest will host the global finals of the first ever CFO Case Study Competition at the Finance Indaba.

06 April 2016

Finance Indaba 2016: Sage One explores how firms can use the cloud

"The future is mobile and we are giving our customers the power to control their businesses from the palm of their hand," says Steven Cohen from Sage One, a gold partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. In the coming weeks and months, we will be chatting to all the Indaba partners, asking them why they are joining the event and what their most important message for finance professionals is.

22 January 2016

Jason Kazilimani, CEO KPMG Zambia: power and agri biggest opportunities

“CFOs that don’t read and don’t network, won’t grow,” says Jason Kazilimani, senior partner and chief executive officer at KPMG Zambia. According to the senior partner there are two types of CFOs in the country: modern, world-class finance executives with international experience and “some others that call themselves CFOs, and yet only do the bean counting”. That is why there is enormous potential to improve the skills and networking capacity of Zambian CFOs, he says. “I would like to see much more emphasis on strategy.”

16 December 2015

Finance Indaba hosts finals of The CFO Case Study Competition

The cream of the crop of Africa's aspiring CFOs and business leaders will be competing for a prize of R100,000 during the global finals of The CFO Case Study Competition, hosted at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016. With entries for participants closing in March 2016, we spoke to Valentine Nti, CEO of organiser CharterQuest Institute about the way CFOs, corporate sponsors, professional bodies, universities and business talents of 25 years and younger can get involved.

10 December 2015

Awesome accountants - find them at the Finance Indaba Africa

South Africa has an outstanding pool of professional accountants. Whether you're a small start up or a successful mid size business, you will need these professionals to help grow and guide your business. The best accountants formulate ideas to help you reach your true goals becoming genuine business partners. Finding the right accountant is easier than you think and you are invited to meet the very best at Finance Indaba Africa.

14 March 2014

'Get Smart' Event: InnoVent offers fascinating insights in rental of depreciating assets

Smart CFOs save money by renting fast-depreciating assets like IT-equipment, instead of buying them. That was the message of Shane Merriman, Managing Director at InnoVent Rental & Asset Management Solutions. During the CFO South Africa ‘Get Smart’ event of 13 March 2014 in the Saxon Boutique Hotel in Johannesburg, Merriman gave the attending CFOs some fascinating and challenging insights in ways to make money go further.

06 December 2013

Nadine Kater, Head of ACCA: Moving towards the 'complete accountant'

“One of the main challenges for South African CFOs is to find capable, qualified accountants that can support them,” says Nadine Kater, the South African Head of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), one of the largest and fastest-growing global accountancy bodies. “I often hear stories about two or three people at the top of the finance department working 24/7 because they need to check all the work of their employees,” she says, adding that she believes the ACCA qualification addresses this problem.

23 April 2013

Bright Amisi, Group Finance Manager at SABS: `Risk management is going to become a key part of the CFO portfolio`

Bright Amisi (37) has been the Group Finance Manager of the SABS, a leading conformity assessment industry player, since 2008. SABS is the largest conformity assessment body in Africa and is the official publisher of South African National Standards (SANS) used across all sectors of the economy. He thinks the most challenging about his position are that the non-finance issues demand a lot of his time. He doesn’t always sit in his office worrying about the numbers; He is frequently out there trying to enable the business to be successful. Everybody wants advice before making decisions. Before joining SABS Bright was employed by the Development Bank of South Africa as the GM: Finance and Administration - NEPAD for three years. Bright has also previously served as the Finance Director of Africare Zimbabwe, Head of Finance and Administration for the Red Cross in Zimbabwe and as an Auditor. He holds an MCom (Accounting), BSc (Hons) and is an Associate member of ACCA, CIMA and CIS. Bright is married to Diana with four kids and is a Formula One fanatic! Which skills do you think a finance professional should master to be successful in his/her work? A finance professional needs knowledge of accounting standards (IFRS), tax, ICT systems and systems integration, as well as risk management.

30 January 2012

Jo Pohl - CFO Ubank: `CFO needs to adapt a far more pro-active and predictive approach`

Ubank (previously Teba Bank) appointed Jo-Ann Pohl to its Board as Chief Financial Officer in June 2007. Prior to her appointment, Jo – as she prefers to be called – who is a qualified chartered accountant was at Barclays Africa where she began as a Corporate Merchant Banking and Treasury Performance Consultant for Africa and the Middle East and then moved back into finance as a Regional Financial Controller before being promoted to Head of Finance for the Pan-African business. Ubank is the 9th largest Bank by assets with deposits of over R3bn and has become a well-recognised banking brand in the country.

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Company profile

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is a global professional accountancy body incorporated by Royal Charter in the UK. With 208,549 members and 503,262 students in 179 countries at 31 March 2018, our community of current and future professional accountants is one of the largest and most diverse in the world.
 

Founded in 1904, ACCA's development has been enabled by our distinctive core values:

- Opportunity: we provide opportunity, free from artificial barriers, to people around the world - whether our students, members or employees - and we support them in their careers.
- Diversity: we respect and value difference, embracing diversity in our people and our output.
- Innovation: we create new and unexpected possibilities, providing innovative solutions for the future.
- Accountability: we accept individual and corporate responsibility for our actions, working together to deliver quality services and to promote the best
interest of our stakeholders.
- Integrity: We act ethically and work in the public interest, treating people fairly and honestly and we encourage the same from others. 
 

Address: ACCA South Africa 1st Floor 18 Hurlingham Road Illovo 2196

Phone: +27 11 459 1912

Website: www.accaglobal.com/africa/en