Nigerian economy and big ticket businesses like Dangote Group are struggling to get talents in finance, especially with the rapid changes in business and technology, Aliko Dangote, president/chief executive of Dangote Group, says.
Dangote Group has a revenue projection of over $30 billion in 2020, which underpins an increasing need to have people with business agility to deal with changes in business models, a situation, Dangote says, poses more challenges to his company.
The business mogul, who played host to a visiting team from the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) led by Helen Brand OBE, told the visitors that his company did not have enough ACCA professionals in its employ.
Dangote, who received an ACCA-award in recognition of his continuing support as a key employer of ACCA members, acknowledged the relevance of its members, pointing out that an ACCA member with an entrepreneurial mindset was more solution-driven than others in similar profession.
The ACCA chief executive, who acknowledged Dangote’s concerns, told him about the results of the ‘ACCA employer-led global research, social mobility, purpose and the profession,’ which revealed that social mobility is transforming the potential talent pool for professional accountants.
Brand OBE highlighted the seven quotients developed from ACCA’s research titled ‘Professional Accountants: The Future’ and how the ACCA qualification ensured the sustainability of these skills through the recent changes in the qualification and its association’s work around policy development through its professional insights.
Taiwo Oyedele, partner/head of tax, West Africa, PwC, affirmed that policy contribution was even more practical with business owners and entrepreneurs, adding that the highest risk of doing business was inconsistency of government policies.
But Dangote noted that the future was bright globally, assuring that he would continue to work towards wealth creation, as the future in Africa was huge.
He disclosed that the profitability of Dangote Group doubled during recession due to the urgency for cost effectiveness that was created, and was considering doing more business outside Africa from 2020, as the African environment tended to pose barriers for businesses.
According to Dangote, “developing capabilities is critical to the growth of businesses and the economy in Nigeria and the future is the small and medium (SMEs).”
Brand OBE highlighted further the ‘Professional Accountants and The Future’ follow-up research titled ‘Generation Next,’ with particular emphasis on the finding that 81 percent of over 18,000 young professionals in over 150 countries saying they want to own their businesses at some point.
