ICAG urges members to provide mentorship to Accounting students

The Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG), has urged its district societies to provide mentorship to students to become autonomous chartered accountants equipped with contemporary knowledge to extend the frontiers of the profession for the next generation.

The President of ICAG, Sena Dake, who gave the advice, said with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Accounting profession needed practitioners who could proffer solutions to complex financial issues.

“Societies of ICAG must provide mentorship to those who have just qualified by giving them internship and employment opportunities, or for those who are still writing, make them your project and support them to become Chartered Accountants for the next generation,” she added.

Meeting

The President was addressing a monthly meeting of Kascity District Society of ICAG in Accra.

The meeting, which is organised every third Sunday of the month, forms part of efforts by the society to provide a platform to members to discuss current trends and come up with initiatives to advance the profession.  

Ms Dake, who was visiting the district society for the first time since assuming office, commended its leadership for their support to the association. 

Priorities

The President said priorities of the association were linked to its 60th anniversary celebration which  is on the theme:

“Promoting sustainability, deepening trust and nurturing partnership”.

She mentioned the establishment of a centre for research on Accounting under the association which would allow members to share their knowledge and experiences as one of its initiatives.

Ms Dake also said her outfit was reviewing its syllabus to include sustainable educational content for accountants in the country.

“We are also seeking sponsorship for our events, including financial literacy for Parliamentarians and would also hold a national public financial management forum,” she added.

Initiatives

The Chairman of the society, Ken Appiah-Kyeremeh, said the accountancy profession was growing rapidly.

He, therefore, urged accountants to be creative by establishing their own businesses to contribute to national development.

“What we are doing here is to educate our own members to be entrepreneurial, especially the younger ones so that they can set up businesses of their own and employ people rather than getting themselves employed,” Mr Appiah-Kyeremeh added.

He said as part of activities of the ICAG anniversary celebration, the society would embark on career counselling programmes for senior high school students to help them appreciate the benefits of being a chartered accountant. 

Meetings

For his part, the secretary of the society, Michael Kwakye, said talks and discussions would be led by professionals and the academia on topics of interest to the profession and the economic development of the nation.

“The District Society shall continue to draw resource persons from members to share their store of practical knowledge and pool of experience in addition to outsourcing.

“I urge all chartered accountants living around Kasoa and its environs to join the society to remain relevant in this changing world,” he added.