23-year-old chartered accountant emerges 7th best globally

A 23-year-old chartered accountant and affiliate of the ACCA with the KPMG, Nana Adwoa Oduraa Asomaning-Agyei, emerged the seventh best globally and the first in Ghana out of the 8,313 who wrote the Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA) examination of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in June 2022.

The young chartered accountant was recognised last Friday when the ACCA, Ghana rewarded 110 prospective members who wrote the ACCA global examination in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 and passed with distinction.

The 110 awardees came tops in Ghana and also earned respectable positions among the thousands who wrote the examination across the world.

Ms Asomaning-Agyei was also laurelled for her performance in the Financial Management examination in March 2020, which she topped in Ghana and came ninth out of the 7,330 who sat for that paper globally.

She also came first in Ghana and 26th globally in the Strategic Business Reporting paper in December 2020.

Ms Asomaning-Agyei is a past student of the Wesley Girls’ High School (WEY GEY HEY), Cape Coast, and the University of Ghana Business School, from where she graduated with a First Class (Honours) degree in Accounting in 2021.

In an interview after her recognition, Ms Asomaning-Agyei said she was very grateful to God who gave her very great and understanding teachers throughout her schooling, from nursery to the university.

“I have been lucky to have been tutored by caring and lovely teachers, particularly Ansa Otu and Michael Amesimeku, formerly of the PRESEC Staff School, Madina, Accra, as well as Charlotte Korsah and Hector Kunkpeh, both of WEY GEY HEY.

“I am also grateful to my parents, Emmanuel Agyei and Eva Maame Foriwaa Adu-Ntiamoah, for supporting my education and encouraging me to always be the best,” she said.

She was also thankful to her elder sister, Akosua Agyeiwaa Asomaning-Agyei, a member of the ACCA who works with PricewaterhouseCoopers Ghana (PwC), for blazing the trail for her to follow.

New trends

Addressing the awardees, a member of the ACCA Ghana Network Panel, Colonel Noble Carl Doe Dei-Alorse, who was the guest speaker at the awards, advised chartered accountants to master new digital trends and technology in order to stay relevant and offer services that were currently needed.

According to him, e-commerce, digital currencies such as bitcoins, artificial intelligence and robotics were now the global norm and, therefore, it was incumbent on chartered accountants to tailor their professional services to match such new technologies

“If you are a chartered accountant and you have not mastered that space yet, then you need to fly, not walk nor run, because the world has left you behind,” he said.

Col Dei-Alorse, who is the Chief Instructor of the Army Faculty, Ghana Military Academy and chartered accountant, said technology had now made the world a global village, with commerce, businesses and companies taking worldwide perspectives.

He said accountants needed globally accepted qualifications, such as the ACCA, to propel them with adequate skills, expertise and the right exposure to tackle global issues, not just in accounting but also management and leadership.

Greater good

Col Dei-Alorse said the work of a chartered accountant was crucial to business growth and national development.

He, however, said it was unfortunate that some businesses, especially small-scale ones and new establishments, failed to hire the services of accountants to advise them and help them grow.

“Some people think that their money is too small to find the skills of chartered accountant to do due diligence on their businesses and give them professional advice on the prospects of those businesses,” he said.

For her part, the President of the ACCA Ghana Network Panel, Irislyn Wilson, in a speech read on her behalf, said the ACCA had, for many years, trained many accounting professionals throughout the world who had made great strides in different areas.

Writer’s email: emma.hawkson@graphic.com.gh