Staff Reporter
Windhoek-A total of 58 Namibian Chartered Accountant candidates today cleared the final hurdle to becoming fully-fledged Chartered Accountants, having equipped themselves in corporate governance, business ethics and the application of international accounting and auditing standards in the interest of and to the benefit of Namibia’s public and private sectors.
President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Namibia (ICAN), Talita Horn, says the institute is immensely proud to announce that 58 candidates passed the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) on 22 November 2017 – a gruelling full-day examination implemented as a real-life simulation case study reflecting the demands of the modern business world.
Sixty-four candidates took the exam and 58 were successful (90 percent pass). This significantly exceeds the 51 who passed in 2016. She highlighted that 24 of the 58 successful candidates obtained their undergraduate degrees at the University of Namibia or Namibia University of Science and Technology. With a pass rate of 89 percent for these candidates, it is evident that Namibian universities can produce graduates that do succeed in their post-graduate studies and professional examinations.
Congratulations to UNAM and NUST.
Horn noted that it takes a minimum of seven years to qualify as a Chartered Accountant [CA(NAM)].
“This arduous and challenging path of qualifying, consisting of three parts, firstly formal university education up to a post-graduate level, secondly, a training contract of at least three years of professional competency-based training and thirdly a 12-month professional programme course and two sets of profession institute exams, requires talent, diligence and commitment.
“In the ever-changing global and regional business environments, there are still people that perceive ‘accountants’ to be the traditional bean counters. But this is not true, the role of CAs has changed dramatically to meet the demands of the modern business world. Chartered Accountants are now recognized as capable and competent business leaders and ICAN is proud to recognise Baronise Hans, Lionel Mathews and Junius Mungunda, the managing directors of Bank Windhoek, Nedbank and Standard Bank, [respectively], as members of ICAN.”
Horn added that the 2017 APC highlights ICAN efforts to continue ensuring its qualifying process reflects the development of relevant competencies which a CA(NAM) needs to have in the workplace.