More than 2,000 participants from over 65 countries are expected to attend this event which will take place on the shores of the Ebrie Lagoon around the theme “Transformation and Growth of African Economies.”
During a press conference this Tuesday, May 2, 2023, in Abidjan, the President of the Order of Chartered Accountants of Cote d’Ivoire, Drissa Kone, explained the stakes of the 2023 edition of the Pan-African Congress of Accountants (ACOA 2023) scheduled from May 15
to 18, 2023.
This major event for professional accountants is “a great first for our profession because we will organize this congress which includes both Portuguese-speaking countries, English-speaking countries and French-speaking countries,” Drissa Kone said.
Cote d’Ivoire, he noted, will be the first Francophone country in sub-Saharan Africa outside the Maghreb to host the African Congress of Accountants. For two days, participants will reflect on the transformation and growth of African economies.
“Our objective is to have English, French and Portuguese-speaking cross-views on the best way to reduce the informal sector and increase or modernize our various economies,” said the President of the Order of Chartered Accountants of Cote d’Ivoire.
Marcellin Zunon, Chairman of the Scientific Commission, said that this conference covers two components, including a scientific and a cultural component. Two days will be devoted to scientific work and two other days to socio-cultural activities.
He noted that the African economies are characterized by a large share of the informal sector and SMEs. In addition, the lack of quality of financial and accounting information produced by these SMEs is an obstacle to the fact that they cannot show their full development
potential.
Moreover, he said, the continent is characterized by a large proportion of young people, which leads to focus on employability, but especially the adequacy between training and employment. In Cote d’Ivoire, nearly 10,000 young accountants enter the job market each
year.
The chairman of the Scientific Committee also raised the issue of digitalization, globalization and resilience of African economies in an environment where the digital part becomes increasingly important in business.
The accounting professionals, in this context, give themselves the ambition to think about the structural transformation and growth of African economies, he continued. The African Accounting Congress will be held using a hybrid format.
AP/fss/APA