Pass rate for Chartered Accountants competency exam drops – 42 candidates pass
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Namibia (ICAN) released the results of the Assessment Professional Competence (APC), late last week.
The results released reflect a drop from 91% to 62% for the 2018 November APC cohort, which demonstrates how high the professional standard of prospective Chartered Accountants must be if they wish to qualify.
The institute said that in November 2018, a total of 68 candidates sat for the exams, the highest figure recorded for the qualifying exam since its inception five years ago.
“42 received the news that they were assessed as competent and had passed their final written professional assessment and were now one step closer to the coveted CA (SA) designation,” the institute said in a statement.
President of ICAN, Abel Akayombokwa, congratulated the class of 2018 and highlighted that to pass the exams, one must illustrate one’s practical ability to use and apply technical, professional and ethical knowledge in a real business world context.
“By passing the exams, these candidates have shown that they have the competencies and attitude that the profession expects entry level Chartered Accountants to exhibit when they enter the working world post their training period,” he added.
Abkayombokwa pointed out that the 2018 final results are a real testimony to the transformational changes that the Chartered Accounting profession has been actively pursuing.
“28 out of the 42 successful candidates are black Namibians, this means that 67% of the class of 2018 is previously disadvantaged candidates which is an excellent achievement, therefore we expect this ratio to climb into the 85% – 90% range by 2025,” he explained.
He said that each of these chartered accountants will become a serous economic contributor to their families and communities while also imparting and sharing financial expertise, which is real economic empowerment through the creation of human capital.
“More importantly this trajectory will ultimately make an impact that matters on the specialists’ skills shortage in the country,” he added.
Akayombokwa further said that the Chartered Accountancy profession is a profession without a glass ceiling, therefore the opportunities for female chartered accountants are as many as for male counterparts.
“We are extremely proud that the class of 2018 has as many successful black female CAs, 14, as there are successful black male CAs, this is proof that the CA profession is becoming a profession of choice because of the equal opportunities that are available,” he concluded.
