This year’s ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Council meeting was held in the African continent, in Nairobi, Kenya.
It was the fourth time since 2006 the Council members met outside of the UK and Ireland. The meetings have been previously held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Beijing, China; and Prague, Czech Republic.
A number of associated events were arranged to coincide with this year’s meeting, including member and student networking events, meetings with local stakeholders, media interviews and a dinner for high profile members of the Kenyan accounting, business and academic communities.
The meeting in Nairobi featured discussions on a number of key topics:
- Council met in break-out groups to contribute to the initial development of ACCA’s strategy beyond 2015. This was the first in a series of discussions with Council in the coming months focusing on the broad trends impacting the business world and the profession.
- Council approved ACCA's Consolidated Financial Statements, Corporate Governance Statement and Summary Accounts for the financial period which ended 31 March 2012. It also approved the content of ACCA’s first ever Integrated Report, together with a related CSR Statement.
- Council approved the Notice of Meeting for the 2012 AGM. No resolutions to amend the bye-laws will be presented to the AGM this year, although members will be asked to approve the Annual Report and Accounts and to re-appoint ACCA’s external auditors.
- Council agreed recommendations from Nominating Committee regarding the membership of standing committees in the coming Council year. It also received the regular presentation from the Chief Executive and a briefing from the Director–Sub Saharan Africa on challenges and prospects for ACCA in the continent.
- Council also received presentations from two high profile figures in the African accountancy profession. Vickson Ncube (Chief Executive Officer of PAFA – the Pan-African Federation of Accountants) briefed Council on the progress made by PAFA and the issues facing the profession in Africa. He was followed by Japheth Katto FCCA (Board member of IFAC) who discussed with Council the role of IFAC and its place in the global profession.
The meeting was followed by visits from various Council members to other key markets for ACCA in the East African region – Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda. These visits provided opportunities for senior ACCA representatives to meet with members, employers and other key stakeholders in those countries.
ACCA's 2012 AGM will be held at 1pm (BST) on Thursday 20 September at 29 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London.
The AGM will be followed by the Annual Council meeting, at which ACCA's Officers for 2012-2013 will be chosen.
- ACCA’s first Integrated Report, together with a related CSR Statement, is available with material for the AGM being held next month, via the 'Related Links' section, left of this article.