Quarterly updates from your Africa Council Members

Su Lin Ong

Dear members

Greetings! A quick introduction – I was elected to ICAEW Council in June last year and am very honoured to represent us at the Council. I am based in Mauritius and spent my career of over 30 years with the Big 4 firms in London and Mauritius working in external audit, risk advisory and IT systems integration. I am now an Independent Director on several Boards in Mauritius, including the largest bank, Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd. With my background of both accounting and technology, I chair several Audit Committees and Technology Committees.

My goal as Council member is that as a region, we support ICAEW’s Direction 2030 strategic vision to be the pre-eminent global professional body, a vision which I am sure we all believe in. To do this, we need to maintain our relevance, enhance our reputation and increase our resilience. This is more important in today’s uncertain and fast changing world.

Across the region, we have just under 1,500 members, mainly in Mauritius, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. In Mauritius, at the end of last year, we had the visit of the ICAEW President, who attended the new members ceremony where approximately 20 new members were admitted. We look forward to more engagement and connections across the region and wider ICAEW network.

As you may be aware, ICAEW is currently in talks with CIPFA so that both Institutes can work more closely towards shared goals and objectives; I see exciting opportunities for us in Africa. In Tanzania, earlier this year, a joint ICAEW/CIPFA workshop on sustainability was held for the Accountant General’s office, which was chaired by the World Bank. The ICAEW Director of Sustainability led our contribution. There is also a CIPFA/ICAEW project to update Tanzania's CPA qualification, which is managed by PAFA, with funding from IFAC/The Global Fund. There will undoubtedly be more opportunities for shared collaboration in the region.

I look forward to interacting more with you all. To this end, please do let me know about the ICAEW activities in your country so that I can include it in the next newsletter.

Dipak Chummun

Dear Members

This quarter, I hosted the Africa Leadership in Finance webinar which was open to both members and students. The webinar attracted members and students from 13 countries and counted as 1.5 hours of CPD for the members.

As Council Member for Africa, I moderated the panel discussion which hosted three experienced panellists located in South Africa, London and Ghana. There were many interactive discussions on several topics namely: different routes for growth and leadership in the profession, how the ACA qualification has helped their careers, international mobility, ethics, values, AI, ESG and other tail and headwinds.

Very positive feedback was received from participants where members quoted the panel discussion as enriching and inspiring.

I look forward to interacting with more members and students at ICAEW events in 2025.

Dipak Chummun

Dear Members

I was co-opted onto the Council in the latter half of 2023 to cover Africa. As a brief introduction, I am based in Mauritius and am the Group CFO of IBL Ltd, the largest diversified group based in Mauritius with businesses across several industries on the island, across Indian Ocean islands and East and West Africa. I am also a Director of the Stock Exchange of Mauritius and was its Chairman until the end of 2023.

My main goal is to ensure that the institute takes measures to reach potential and existing students as well as members to ensure the ensure the strong reputation our institute has on the continent is preserved and even enhanced. Africa is going to grow fast and having top tier professionals operating out vast continent is of paramount importance.

I have had the chance to have informal discussions with some senior members in Mauritius and during an upcoming business visit to Kenya, will take time to meet some senior members to get an update from them, and seek their views on how the institute can support members, add value and grow membership numbers across the broader East African region. I am looking forward to deepen my understanding of the needs of the continent. As it stands 90% of members in Africa are based in 5 countries, in decreasing order: Mauritius, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe respectively. I think we can do more.

At the end of June, the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) is hosting its AGM, preceded by the Professional Accountancy Organisation (PAO) leadership and technical forums, in Mauritius. I will seize the opportunity to meet some of its members to understand what their missions are.

To end on a very positive note, I am very proud to say that at the annual dinner of the institute in March, the institute awarded the outstanding achievement award to Eddie Uoko, the former Auditor General of Kenya. I encourage you to read the article on Eddie Ouko receives ICAEW Outstanding Achievement Award | ICAEW. I will have the pleasure to meet Eddie again on my upcoming trip to Nairobi.

I aim to give you an update on the above in due course.

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Africa also have a network of contact members, who are points of contact for members' enquiries on living and working in Africa.

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