02 Jun 2016

The new president of Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) Mr Rudi Binedell says it is time his members stood up and came up with strategies which could  resuscitate and move the economy of the country forward as the mining sector's performance is not doing well.

Speaking at a dinner to introduce his new council members in Gaborone on June 1, Mr Binedell said it was time BICA joined forces with the government to exploit more efficient and prudent ways in driving government initiatives such as Economic Stimulus Programme aimed at growing the economy.

He said the success of such programmes through involvement of BICA expertise will ensure sustainable economic growth, noting that this will therefore cushion against the declining revenues derived from mineral sales.  

Mr Binedell therefore challenged BICA members to be backbone of the economy because of the corporate financial skills they possessed. He however said they could only achieve this if they remained disciplined themselves.
Meanwhile he decried the acute lack of professional accountants in the country, noting that at the moment there were 2860 registered members. He said looking at the industries, companies, parastatals and even government, there was still a dire need for fully qualified professional accountants in the country.

He said without these skills it made it even more difficult for government to conduct business, have projects handed in time and on budget as there was shortage of project accountants. As a way forward he appealed to the government and other stakeholders to assist in sponsoring students to do the BICA qualification. In addition he reported that the much awaited Reciprocal Membership Agreement (RMA) with ICAEW was signed in November 2015.

The agreement enables members of both bodies to apply for membership of the other, giving them access to a greater support as well as boosting their international presence and expertise.

In her welcome remarks, BICA CEO Ms Verily Molatedi said the event was among others to update the stakeholders on the institute's operations and outline plans for the duration of its president's tenure. It also serves to give stakeholders an opportunity to give feedback to the institute and where improvements can be made. Ends