IAFEI Quarterly - 32nd Issue

Press, Journal Article

inTernATiOnAl

• Transport: (including an

Africa Integrated High Speed

Train Initiative connecting all

African capitals and commer-

cial centres), improved effi-

ciency and connections of the

African aviation sector, streng-

thening the African port and

shipping sector as regional and

continental assets.

• Energy: harnessing all `Afri-

can energy resources to ensure

modern, efficient, reliable, cost

effective, renewable and envi-

ronmentally friendly energy to

all African households, busi-

nesses, industries and institu-

tions through building the

national and regional energy

pools and grids

• ICT: putting the continent on

equal footing with the rest of

the world as an information

society, an integrated e-eco-

nomy where every govern-

ment, business and citizen has

access to reliable and affor-

dable ICT services by increa-

sing broadband penetration by

10% by 2018, broadband

connectivity by 20 percentage

points and providing access to

ICT to children in schools and

venture capital to young ICT

entrepreneurs and innovators.

Companies that invest in

South Africa will have a so-

phisticated platform and sup-

port fromwhere they can enter

into other African markets.

The South African govern-

ment, by way of the Depart-

ment of Trade and Industry,

already provides strong protec-

tion to investors in terms of the

framework provided by the

Constitution and other rele-

vant legislation. It is also im-

portant to recall that, as a

member of the WTO, South

Africa subscribes to a range of

disciplines and rules that pro-

vide multilateral guarantees to

foreign investors, according to

Minister Davies.

During a debate on the new

Protection of Investment Bill

2015, Davies said the under-

lying philosophy of the Bill is

The Southern African Insti-

tute for Business Accountants

(SAIBA), as a member of the

International Association of

Financial Executives (IAFEI),

supports its members by adop-

ting and implementing inter-

national standards relating to

ethics, quality, education, fi-

nancial reporting, assurance

and other engagements.

SAIBA enables the sharing of

knowledge and assists mem-

bers in understanding all areas

affecting accountants, CFO-s

and financial professionals.

SAIBA has also engaged with

the University of South Africa

(UNISA) to become the official

Leadership School for the CFO

(SA) designation. Through this

partnership, potential CFOs

can obtain their MBA or MBL

through UNISA, who offers a

custom degree to meet the

skills requirement for the edu-

cation part of the CFO(SA)

designation.

There are also a number of

other professional accounting

bodies that have similar statu-

tory rights as SAIBA to set

admission criteria, rules of

conduct and continued educa-

tion requirements that must be

met before a person is deemed

qualified, include the South

African Institute of Chartered

Accountants (SAICA), the

South African Institute of Pro-

fessional Accountants (SAIPA),

the Chartered Institute of Ma-

nagement Accountants

(CIMA), the Association of

Chartered Certified Accoun-

tants (ACCA), the Institute of

Accounting and Commerce

(IAC), the South African Insti-

tute of Government Auditors

(SAIGA) and the Institute of

Chartered Secretaries of South

Africa (ICSA).

As the custodian of the

auditing profession, the Inde-

pendent Regulatory Board for

Auditors (IRBA), together

with the profession, must

maintain the quality and inte-

grity of the audit system,

thereby contributing to the

protection of the financial

interests of the public.

The WEF ranking brings

confidence to foreign investors

that they can trust and rely on

our auditing strength despite

the economic meltdown and

other challenges that the

country and the auditing pro-

fession have been experien-

cing, according to Bernard

Agulhas, CEO of the IRBA.

South Africa’s decision to

adopt the globally recognized

International Standards on

Auditing (ISA) as well as the

International Financial Repor-

ting Standards (IFRS) as early

as 2005 has had a direct effect

on South Africa’s leading ran-

king.

Agulhas emphasizes that

South Africa, which has mo-

ved up the overall rankings to

number 49 from 53, also has

a vital role to play in suppor-

ting other countries on the

continent to improve their fi-

nancial standards and repor-

ting processes so that Africa

can become internationally

respected in global markets. In

addition, developing countries

need to create stronger ties

among themselves, with grea-

ter collaboration between the

private and public sectors as

well as between industry and

government.

south Africa, the

gateway to Africa

South Africa can also play a

role in unlocking growth in

the rest of Africa, said Ta-

koordeen.

These opportunities exist

through South Africa’s sup-

port of regional integration

and infrastructure develop-

ment on the continent, as well

as its support for Africa’s

Agenda 2063.

According to South Africa’s

Minister of Trade and Industry,

Dr. Rob Davies, Africa has defi-

ned a developmental trajectory

for itself that involves moving

away from its current insertion

in the global trading system as

a producer and exporter of pri-

mary commodities and an

importer of finished goods. “In

this regard Africa has defined

a very clear agenda to move up

the value chain and industria-

lize through an ambitious de-

velopmental integration pro-

gramme that combines market

integration alongside infras-

tructure development and coo-

peration to develop regional

industrial value chains”, he

recently said in Nairobi.

Some of the aspirations of

Agenda 2063 is for Africa to

transform, grow and indus-

trialize its economies through

beneficiation and value addi-

tion of natural resources; im-

plementation of the African

Industrial Development Ac-

tion Plan; fast tracking the

establishment of the Centre for

African Mineral Development;

promote sectorial and produc-

tivity plans and regional and

commodity value chains to

support the implementation of

industrial policies at all levels,

with focus on SMMEs and

Agribusinesses; the establish-

ment of Commodity Ex-

changes for strategic African

products; strategies to grow

the African Blue and Green

Economies; the development

of the African Private sector

through engagement and a

conducive climate; fostering

Pan African businesses

through the growth of regio-

nal manufacturing hubs and

scaled up intra-Africa trade;

consolidate the modernization

of African agriculture and

agribusinesses through scaled

up value addition and produc-

tivity; expand the introduction

of modern agricultural sys-

tems, technology, practices

and training; connect Africa

through world-class infras-

tructure with a concerted

push to finance and imple-

ment the major infrastructure

projects in:

Finance & gestion

MARS 2016

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