SMP & SME – Renewal and Resilience Global Support Webinar Series
About the event
The Edinburgh Group in collaboration with the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA), The Federation of Mediterranean Certified Accountants (FCM), The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA), will host a three-part webinar, to spotlight the need for sustainability in small-to-medium accountancy practices (SMPs) and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs).
Dates: 2 to 4 February 2022
Time: 14:00 to 16:00 SAST (GMT +2) daily.
Cost: FREE, however, space is limited
Meet the speakers
2 February 2022
Day 1
Evans Mulera – PAFA
Evans, a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya (ICPAK) is a PFM expert with rich experience in setting up of Accountancy Bodies (PAOs). He previously served as the deputy CEO of ICPAK and went on to serve as the first CEO of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Rwanda (ICPAR) where he supported the PAO to attain IFAC Associate membership as well as roll out its first Technician and Professional Accountancy examinations in a record 2 years from the setup of the PAO secretariat. He oversaw the roll-out of the operations of the first Public Sector Accounting Standards Board of Kenya having previously chaired the East African technical committee of the Financial Reporting Awards. He’s an International Consultant who played an advisory role in the IFAC PAO Capacity Building Program and currently advises PAFA in the PAO Capacity Building Program. Evans is the founder of Capabuil ltd, a consultancy firm that specializes in PFM training and entrepreneurship skills development for teens and youth across Africa. He currently advises ICPAK on capacity building for the Accountancy Institute in Burundi and has played a pivotal role in supporting audit firms in Burundi to comply with IFAC SMOs with particular emphasis on Audit Quality Management. He is happily married to one wife and four children.
Ashalia Maharajh – Founder and Director of Sivuka Consulting
Ashalia is a power package – mom of three girls, wife, social entrepreneur, life coach, speaker and facilitator, moving through life with energetic ease. She leads with a powerful combination of intuition and logic and is extremely passionate about living a purpose driven life, neuroscience and mindful living.
Ashalia uses her energetic nature and charismatic energy to inspire and capture an audience effortlessly.
She has the uncanny ability to tap into an individual’s drive for purpose and motivation through dynamic and engaging sessions!
Eamonn Siggins is Chief Executive of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland (CPA Ireland), 17 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2.
Eamonn was elected Chairman of the Edinburgh Group in November 2016 and re-elected in November 2018 for a second and final two-year term to November 2020, having previously served as Secretary to the Edinburgh Group from 2004 to 2010. In 2013 Eamonn led an Edinburgh Group international research project on The Importance of SMEs to the Global Economy. He has spoken on SME issues at several international conferences.
Eamonn previously served as a Technical Adviser for the Board of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) from 2005 to 2011. Prior to this, Eamonn served as a Technical Adviser to two separate chairs of the IFAC Education Committee, the predecessor to the International Accounting Education Standards Board.
Prior to joining CPA Ireland, Mr. Siggins retired, with the rank of Captain, from the Irish Defence Forces after 14 years of service in a number of appointments in Ireland and with the United Nations peace keeping force in Lebanon.
Eamonn is an Honours Graduate in Legal Science, a member of the Institute of Directors, and holds Postgraduate qualifications in Strategy & Innovation, Leadership and Management, and an MBS in Business Practice.
Kantha Naicker
Kantha Naicker, Professional Accountant (SA) is currently Chairman of SAIPA’s Board, owner of Evolve Accounting, a mum, wife, daughter, sister and entrepreneur. Evolve Accounting, is a female owned small medium practice employing four staff members with branches in Durban, Johannesburg and Ladysmith.
Kantha is passionate about the growth and transformation of the accountancy profession, gender equality, inclusivity and diversity. She believes strongly in volunteerism, giving back a fair amount of her time. She has worked tirelessly over the past 25 years to make a difference in the accountancy profession in South Africa and has mentored and guided many on their paths to Professionalization and beyond. She also represents SAIPA on the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) Board which comprises of Professional Accountancy Organisations across Africa.
Her focus is to always make a difference in people’s lives by assisting them to achieve their own dreams through skills and knowledge transfer and encourages them to always pay it forward. She is passionate about everything she gets involved in and ethical in her decision making, a fantastic teacher and mentor and highly skilled she is someone full of enthusiasm, incredibly efficient with a real “can do” attitude.
Giorgio De Giorgi – President of FCM – Fédération des Experts Comptables Méditerranéens
Giorgio De Giorgi is President of FCM – Fédération des Experts Comptables Méditerranéens – The Federation of Mediterranean Certified Accountants that represents the accountancy profession in the Mediterranean area.
Mr Dr Giorgi is a member of the EMEA board and management committee and member of the World Board of Prime Global, one of the five largest associations of independent accounting firms in the world, with 300 member firms over the globe, present in over 100 countries with more than 950 offices and 3,000 partners, actively participating in the activities of the association.
In addition, to various other roles, Mr Giorgi is also a member of the tax faculty of Prime Global and lectures at several courses and conferences on internationalisation of companies and businesses and on international taxation, both in Italy and abroad.
3 February 2022
Day 2
Christopher Arnold – Director and Head of SME/SMP and Research at IFAC
Christopher Arnold is a Director and Head of SME/SMP and Research at IFAC. He oversees IFAC’s SMP Advisory Group and is focused on developing and sharing thought leadership to promote a future-ready profession, the adoption and implementation of high-quality international standards and advocating for the importance of professional accountants as valuable and essential business partners and advisers. He was previously an Audit Manager at one of the big 4 and started his career as a Small Business Policy Adviser at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
Theuns Holtshousen – Divisional Business Executive at CaseWare Africa, A division of Adapt IT
Theuns plays a pivotal role in the strategic direction and growth of the business across the African continent. His focus lies in market strategy and growing market share. As an accomplished leader with a track record for driving market growth, Theuns has presented CaseWare around Africa, from Kenya to Nigeria and Mauritius. He is passionate about using technology and delivering the right software and products to improve and change the way business is done in Africa, not only in the accounting and auditing industry, but also within the Public Sector and corporate markets. Theuns’ leadership values centre on empowering others to lead in their spaces, as well as creating an open environment for knowledge sharing and originating ideas to ensure the best product and service delivery to clients.
Monica Foerster – Partner at Confidor, Chair of IFAC’s SMP Advisory Group
Monica Foerster became Chair of the IFAC SMP Advisory Group (SMPAG) in 2017, after serving as its Deputy Chair. A SMPAG member since 2014, she was nominated by Conselho Federal de Contabilidade (CFC) and Instituto dos Auditores Independentes do Brasil (IBRACON). With 20 years of experience in the accountancy profession, Ms. Foerster is a partner at Confidor, an accounting, tax, and law firm with offices in Porto Alegre and São Paulo, Brazil.
Monica is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Ibracon Brazil (where she was the SMP Director and coordinator of the SMP Working Group for 6 years), and a board member at the Accounting Council (where she was also the coordinator of the Committee of Audit Studies (CRCRS) for 4 years.
Monica holds an MBA in financial management, controllership and audit from the FGV – Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Brazil, and a degree in accounting from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul – UFRGS, Brazil.
Paul Thompson Director, European Federation of Accountants and Auditors for SMEs
Paul Thompson is EFAA Director and a consultant dedicated to thought leadership and development of the global accountancy profession. From 2004 to 2016 Mr. Thompson worked for IFAC latterly as Director, Global Accountancy Profession Support, a role that extended to overseeing the IFAC Global Knowledge Gateway, research and innovation, and activities in support of small- and medium-sized practices (SMP) and professional accountants in business (PAIB). He advises developing professional accountancy organisations in Europe and Asia. Previously Mr. Thompson worked for Touche Ross & Co., London before going on to lecture on corporate reporting and analysis at universities in the UK, Singapore, and Malaysia. He has a number of publications in academic journals and the professional press in the areas of ethical finance, corporate reporting, corporate governance, integrated reporting, practice management and the future of the profession.
Amy Fairchild – Principal at The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB)
Accomplished public accounting professional working as a Principal at the IAASB. Key current projects include Audits of Less Complex Entities and workstreams on Technology. Prior to her role at IAASB, Ms. Fairchild was in the RSM US national office, where she led the content and design of RSM’s audit & assurance software (RSM Orb) and related roadmap. She was also responsible for various policies, manuals, tools and guidance, working as a subject matter expert and designing and facilitating training. Preceding her technical roles, she has client-serving audit and accounting advisory experience at large and mid-tier firms internationally.
Ms. Gulgun Ozturk – Treasurer of TÜRMOB’s Istanbul CPA Chamber
Ms. Gulgun Ozturk is currently the Treasurer of TÜRMOB’s Istanbul CPA Chamber and also a certified Public Accountant as well as Independent Auditor.
She is also owner of a freelance Accounting office and independent auditing company. In addition to her vast significant experience in both the private sector and in the Istanbul CPA Chamber, Ms. Gulgun Ozturk’s professional affiliations include being a member of Expert Accountants Association of Turkey, member of Ethics and Reputation Association, member of Cooperate Governance Association of Turkey and member of Accountant’s Association.
4 February 2022
Day 3
Faith represents SAIPA at various international and national stakeholder meetings such as International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA), Small and Medium-sized Practitioners, Edinburgh Group; World Bank Technical Group of Doing business in SA, Association of BEE Professionals (ABP), South African Revenue Services (SARS); Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission (CIPC); and the Accounting Standards Board (ASB). She holds a BCom, BCom Honours, and Masters in Accountancy degrees; is Professional Accountant (SA) a qualified Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) and a member of the Institute of Directors (SA).
Kevin Dancey – Chief Executive, International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)
Mr. Dancey has a long history of leadership in the accountancy profession as well as in public service. As Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants President and CEO, Mr. Dancey led the Canadian accountancy profession’s unification, becoming CPA Canada’s first President and CEO after the merger. His experience also includes serving as the Assistant Deputy Minister, Tax Policy, at Finance Canada (1993-1995), on the Canadian Auditor General Panel of Senior Advisors (2006-2015) and as an Auditing and Assurance Standards Oversight Committee member (2017-2018) and CCAF-FCVI Inc. board member (2008-2013).
Mr. Dancey’s international accountancy experience includes the Public Interest Oversight Board (2017-2018), the IFAC board (2006-2012) and the Global Accounting Alliance (2006-2016), where he was also Chair from 2008 to 2012.
Prior to joining the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, Mr. Dancey was PwC’s Canadian Senior Partner and CEO and was a PwC Global Leadership Team member from 2001-2005. He was national tax practice leader for Coopers & Lybrand before the merger with Pricewaterhouse.
Mr. Dancey currently chairs Finance Canada’s Departmental Audit Committee and is on the Advisory Board of the CPA Canada Martin Family Initiative, which mentors Canadian indigenous youth, having previously served as the National Coordinator for the program. He is also a Senior Fellow at the CD Howe Institute, a Canadian research institute dedicated to raising living standards through economically sound public policies.
Mr. Dancey is a Fellow at CPA Ontario, where he first qualified, and a member of CPA Canada. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hon.) in Mathematics & Economics from McMaster University (Canada).
Patrick Kabuya – Senior Governance Specialist at the World Bank (based in South Africa)
Parick is a Senior Governance Specialist at the World Bank (based in South Africa). He is involved in partnering and supporting African countries to strengthen the accountancy profession, corporate governance, integrated thinking and reporting, and public finance management for benefit of citizens. He has extensive wealth of skills, knowledge and experience in these areas.
Patrick was instrumental in establishing and remains actively involved in the operations of Africa Integrated Reporting Council (AIRC) that is promoting and supporting implementation of integrated thinking and reporting in Africa. He is also the current Chair of the World Bank Group Integrated Reporting Community of Practice whose role is to promote and empower both WBG staff and member countries to implement integrated reporting.
He is a Chartered Accountant – CA (South Africa), Fellow Certified Public Accountant of Kenya (FCPAK) and Fellow of Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), – and a Fellow of African Leadership Initiative (a member of Aspen Global Leadership Network). He has served in several leadership positions: Board member of the Institute of Directors of Southern Africa (IoDSA), Chairman of NEPAD Business Foundation Audit Committee, member of Cricket South Africa Audit Committee, Chairman of Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) South Africa Chapter, amongst others.
Patrick served in both EY (Nairobi, Kenya and Johannesburg, South Africa offices) and South Africa Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) before joining World Bank Group in 2009.
Elena Botvina – Economic Affairs, Division of Investment & Enterprise, United Nations, UNCTAD, Geneva, Switzerland
Elena is an Economic Affairs Officer at the Division of Investment & Enterprise of UNCTAD, working on facilitation of the intergovernmental support as well as expansion of the technical cooperation projects on assessing the progress of the private sector in attainment of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with a view to facilitate sustainable investment and inclusive growth. She conducted extensive economic research and contributed to preparing analytical reports on sustainability and SDG reporting as well as coordinated development of the practical case studies on measuring the contribution of the private sector to the implementation of the SDGs. Elena leads technical cooperation project on enabling policy frameworks for enterprise sustainability and SDG reporting in the African region and facilitates the work of UNCTAD as a co-custodian for developing metadata guidance for the SDG indicator 12.6.1. Her previous experience relates to working in multinational organizations providing expertise in credit ratings, audit and reporting including Fitch Ratings and KPMG. Elena holds an MBA degree from IMD Business School, Switzerland and B.A. from State University of Management, Russia.
Anil Bhandari, Vice Chairman, Edinburgh Group Central Council Member, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)
CA. Anil Bhandari is a Central Council Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountant of India. He is also a Cost Accountant, Certified Internal Auditor from the Institute of Internal Auditors, Inc Florida (USA) and Certified Information Systems Auditor from ISACA (USA).
Through his association with the Edinburgh Group as its Vice-Chairman, he is playing an advocacy role through engagements with relevant stakeholders and with a focus on technological involvement and improving governance in era of global interconnectedness.
He has also been the Past President of The Institute of Internal Auditors, India and has served on the board of ISACA India Task Force.
He has dedicated more than one decade to The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India from being an elected regional chairman to the Central Council and has been contributing to the digital journey at ICAI. CA Anil Bhandari has been at the helm of the largest and ICAI’s best region “The Western India Regional Council”, which serves more than hundred thousand members and three lakh students.
His experience at ICAI spans through education, examination, CPD and development, research, disciplining and system development with strong focus towards IT architecture. He now serves as the Chairman of Committee on Career Counselling and Valuation Standards Board. CA Anil Bhandari has been the Chairman of the Digital Transformation Committee, Internal Audit Standards Board and Vice Chairman of National Economic Advisory Committee.
Internationally recognised as an innovator, technologist and thought leader. He now mentors a very passionate team of technologist to create a next generation ROBO AUDITOR especially for Industries where the data volume is large and have been invited to participate in roundtable, seminars and events across the globe to deliver technological views in front of CISOs, CIOs, CTOs of global enterprises.
Philippe Arraou, Certified Public Accountant in France
Philippe has his own practice of 40 people, after having served as President of BDO France till 2020.
He was President of the French Institute of CPA “Ordre des Experts Comptables”, from 2015 to 2017.
He served IFAC, the global Federation of his profession, as Board member from 2016 to November 2019.
He is President of ETAF, the European Tax Advisers Federation, since its launching in 2016.
He is also President of “CILEA”, the Latin Committee Europe America, since January 2019.
He was President of FCM, The Mediterranean Federation of Accountants in 2018 and 2019.
Mr. Arraou was the first President of the European Federation EFAA, the European Federation of Accountants and Auditors for SMEs, from 1996 to 2000.
He received 2 awards in 2015:
the Premio “Excelencia Internacional” Luca Pacioli of the Asociacion InterAmericana de Contabilidad, AIC,
and the Honorific Title of Miembro de Mérito of the Consejo General de Colegios de Economistas de España.
In France he was decorated:
in 2013 by the Minister of Budget, Cazeneuve, of the “Ordre National du Mérite”,
in 2016 by the Minister of Economy, Macron, of the “Légion d’Honneur”.
Professor Small is a professional educationist with experience in education restructuring and curriculum development. He describes himself as a human capital developer and has left a deep footprint in academia. Professor Small has held teaching positions such as Associate Professor, Guest Lecturer and Educational Trainer at international institutions such as the Prince Sultan College of Tourism and Management as well as King Abdullah University of Science & Technology. He has also served as Senior Lecturer, Head of Financial Accounting and Coordinator of Honours program, at the University of Western Cape. Professor Small is passionate about the Accountancy profession and how it should be shaping itself to meet the future of Artificial Intelligence as well as enhanced and new technologies. He believes that sophisticated automation will and has already begun changing the way accountants fulfil their role. He maintains that accountants must become information users and knowledge producers. He is also firm proponent of accounting professionals becoming expert users of the increasingly sophisticated software that is available, as he considers this to be the only way they can carve out a niche for themselves.
Presented in proud collaboration with the Edinburgh Group, the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA), The Federation of Mediterranean Certified Accountants (FCM), The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA).
About the Edinburgh Group
The Edinburgh Group is a coalition of 16 international accountancy bodies that champions the interests of SMPs and SMEs, professional accountants in business and especially developing nations within the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). This webinar series is presented in partnership with PAFA and FCM.