22 Oct 2017

New professionals in the accounting vocation have been encouraged to keep working on upgrading their skills in order to be better prepared for the job market.

Speaking at the Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) graduation ceremony held at the Gaborone International Convention Centre (GICC) on October 19, the British deputy high commissioner to Botswana, Ms Emily Summers said in a competitive job market graduates needed to constantly expand their skills.

She said the accounting profession had contributed immensely in the global economic sphere, and that accountants needed not only limit themselves to their profession, as they had in the past proved versatile enough to partake in other vocations.

Ms Summers said her country was proud to have been associated with the ceremony through BICA membership of the United Kingdom based Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT).

BICA president, Mr Rudi Binedell echoed the British envoy’s sentiments, stressing the importance of graduates to continue empowering themselves in order to partake meaningfully in the job market.

“Once your professional life starts to take shape, continuing development becomes vital so as to keep your skills and knowledge completely up to date. To this end, I urge all those who will be admitted as BICA members to ensure that they keep themselves professionally up to date as continuing professional development is requisite for continued membership,” Mr Binedell said.

He said BICA had partnered with the AAT for almost two decades and that Botswana was one of the largest bases for AAT qualification.

“AAT remains a success story in Botswana as it helps in strengthening the country’s economy through its graduates employed in various sectors of the economy,” Mr Binedell said.

The British-based president of the AAT, Ms Nicky Fisher, who also graced the occasion, cemented the night’s message that graduates needed to continually invest in improving their skills.

“I challenge you to take with you every lesson you have learnt from your AAT experience into the real world and make use of it. Given the acute unemployment out there, I wish to encourage you to study further while you are still young,” Ms Fisher said.

Among the graduates were Simon Buka, Coster Chitura, Emily Lekone and Thabang Mantle who were elected to full AAT membership. ENDS