Headstart for good bean counters
Auditing firm, Ernst & Young, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants, gave UNAM a N$240,000 sponsorship to run a competition to find the best candidates to study accounting. E&Y managing partner, Gerhard Fourie is third from the left while UNAM principal, Prof Lazarus Hangula stands in the centre.
The National Accounting Talent Search, launched last year, attracted 585 entries from 53 schools. This year, the number of entries jumped to 873 from 58 schools. The competition identifies the top potential accounting talent and then supports the best candidates financially to be able to study accounting.
Ernst & Young’s sponsorship amounted to N$160,000 and that of ICAN, to N$60,000.
The sponsorships were received by the UNAM Vice Chancellor, Prof Lazarus Hangula who thanked the sponsors for their generous support.
The Managing Partner of Ernst & Young, Mr Gerhard Fourie congratulated UNAM saying “I would like to emphasize that it is in my opinion an absolute non-negotiable if we want to transform and grow our profession that Namibian pupils must be able to obtain the required academic qualifications in Namibia.”
The UNAM Department of Accounting, Auditing & Income Tax said their focus is on strengthening the spectrum of accountancy. “Over the past years, accountancy as a career has been given little attention despite the efforts of educational institutions and auditing firms. Namibia has a meagre 300 chartered accountants.”
