A new arrangement between Rwanda’s Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the International Certified Professional Accountants Association (CIMA) could improve possibilities on the global market for local accountants.
The arrangement seeks to enhance public accountants ‘ professionalism and enhance their ability to cooperate with qualified public accountants worldwide.
The move is also a component of a five-year plan that aims to close the skills gap of 5,000 accounting experts over the next five years, according to Dr. Patrick Uwizeye, the ICPAR president.
The two organizations have committed to developing and maintaining a relationship of mutual acceptance of the members of each other with the aim of enhancing members ‘ accounting skills and trying to extend their scope of practice.
“The agreement heralds the recognition and acknowledgement of our members to collaborate with others professional accountants in addressing the demands of rapidly evolving and disruptive accounting environment,” he said.
He observed that the move is part of our attempts to reform the country’s public accounting practice and align Rwanda’s systems with highest standards that are globally acceptable.
“This includes building competitiveness of our members and keep them updated on the emerging trends and issues in accountancy internationally .The efforts will improve the transferability of skills between members and other accounting professionals beyond Rwanda,” he said.
ICPAR only has more than 500 Certified Public Accountants and 99 Certified Accounting Technician Accountants.
CIMA has more than 150,000 members certified, 280,000 students in more than 180 nations.
Rwanda requires to raise the amount of nationally qualified accountants considerably if it is to satisfy its desire to be a economic and service hub and assist to strengthen service delivery across the public sector.
Research demonstrates a positive correlation between the percentage of employed accountants and per capita GDP and the Development Index of the United Nations.
It is estimated that accountants add up to half a trillion USD to the global economy, according to the Nexus 2 research undertaken by IFAC.
Uwizeye said that the Rwanda’s five year strategy running to 2021 seeks to increase the number of certified accountants following multiple challenges in enhancing accounting efficiency.
These include the failure to generate the percentage of professional accountants needed by the public sector, resulting in under-qualified people performing accounting and financing owing to absence of the necessary qualifications.
The approach also looks at the initiative to assist company know the advantages of hiring a professionally skilled accountant by enhancing the quality of government and private sector governance, economic management, reporting, and auditing.
It will also guarantee enhanced trust among investors and donors, as well as enhanced foreign direct investment, regional and global competitiveness, and thus contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Dr. Uwizeye said, “The agreement enables the environment for local certified accountants to work everywhere since they will have global qualifications. Considering the continental free trade treaty currently being ratified is an opportunity for the skilled accountants.”
Gordian Bowa, who at CIMA is in charge of Eastern Central Africa, said that Rwanda is increasingly becoming an significant market, hence the need to increase skills in the field.
“Those who come to our qualification and qualify, they obtain a passport for themselves, they can go and work anywhere in the world as they are recognized globally. We have developed very modern qualifications which members will have access to,” he said.