CIOs step in to help upgrade Africa’s account management systems

As globalization evolves, accounting becomes more central to the development of a modern economy, with the need for greater trust in digital financial transactions. Some African entrepreneurs have begun to address this urgency by developing atypical accounting automation and new management systems where CIOs drive the ins and outs of the processes to keep up with ever-changing markets.

“Digital transformation is crucial for the sustainability and resilience of professional accountancy organizations to meet changing business and market demands,” according to the International Federation of Accountants.

At the 7th African Accounting Congress, taking place May 15 to 18 in Côte d’Ivoire, digital professionals, accountants, entrepreneurs and other experts will focus on holistic and integrated digital solutions to broaden the tax base in African economies. This sector, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is an essential component of most sub-Saharan economies, contributing up to 65% of GDP, and accounting for up to 90% of non-farm employment. It also includes either family businesses that produce some market value without being registered, or, more broadly, underground production carried out by registered businesses that may not be reported to the authorities in order to avoid regulation or taxation, or because they’re simply illegal. 

The Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA), in their program at the Congress, invites future participants to prepare a pragmatic approach to the challenges and constraints for successful digitalization, but also to innovative solutions to expand the digital tax base.

So what are ways to store, structure, analyze, and disseminate data collected and centralized to develop digital solutions that promote this? Some entrepreneurs say they’ve already found solutions to make management easier and more beneficial to organizations.

Before specializing as a payment solution for developers, Lipana, a Kenyan fintech that balances books for SMEs, started in 2021 as a simple accounting software company managing invoices and tracking expenses, according to Shadrack Apollo, its co-founder and CIO.