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• 2007 was characterised by several promotions. Blue chip corporates issued press releases about ACCA members who were elevated to either CFO or CEO roles. Notable among these are Richard Phiri FCCA, who is now managing director, Inter Market Banking Corporation, and Mabvuto Chipata, who is now managing director, Inter Market Discount House, both institutions which play a significant role in capital markets. Others included Wesley Beene, Morgan Macheleta and Mark Libakeni who were invited to partnership of Grant Thornton and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
• In addition:
• ACCA senior members are currently the Zambian Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, auditor general and deputy auditor general
• A senior member sits on the IFAC Developing Nations Committee
• Senior members are president and vice president of the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA), the national regulator
• A senior member is International Assembly/ Zambia Branch President
• Over 50 members occupy CEO and partner roles in both private and public sectors
• More than five senior members were promoted to CEO and partner roles in 2007, and over 10 were promoted to CFO roles
• Over 200 senior members occupy CFO roles in Zambia
• We have more than 500 students working for listed companies and blue chip corporates
• ACCA Zambia was invited to comment on the Zambia Accountants Bill. Mukaba Mukaba, country manager, represented ACCA at the stakeholder and ZICA members’ meeting held in October. ZICA is ACCA’s Joint Examinations and CPD Partner. During the consultations, ACCA was pleased to share views with its esteemed partner on key principles governing the regulation of the accountancy profession. ACCA’s paper on regulation, which sets out ACCA’s views on the design and structure of a regulatory system intended to ensure that the accountancy profession is acting properly in the interests of its users and of the public, was presented to partnering organisations. The paper covers the principles of good regulation, regulatory functions (and how the functions might be discharged by a professional body), categories of accountant and how they may be regulated, the focus of regulation, and regulatory models.
• In close collaboration with ZICA, ACCA organised IFRS Focus Group breakfast meetings attended by 20 senior members. The meetings, chaired by Professor Robin Jarvis, ACCA head of SME Business, provided a platform to consult relevant parties, particularly preparers and users of financial reports, about the IFRS for SME exposure draft to ensure that IFRS for SMEs meets their needs. The Focus Groups considered:
  • whether the guidance proposed for SMEs are likely to meet the needs of users of financial reports  
  • what changes could be made to the current proposals to make them better suited to the users  and preparers 
  • if the current proposals for SMEs are considered wholly unsuitable for the whole range of SMEs 
  • the appropriate level of assurance, if any, for SME financial reports.    
• The national regulator held further consultative meetings with other regional counterparts during the ECSAFA meeting held in Harare, Zimbabwe in September, after the Focus Group meetings in Lusaka, and presented their submissions on views from Zambia.
• It was interesting to observe a shift in the advertising campaigns of recruitment agencies and corporations. Most job adverts gave ACCA prominent mention and for the first time, there was an increase in advertising for CAT for accounting jobs.
  

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