ICPAR moves to reduce skills gap

The shortage of qualified accountants could soon end after the Institute of Certified Public Accountants Rwanda (ICPAR) intensified training in professional courses, the ICPAR president, Francis Mugisha, has said.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

The shortage of qualified accountants could soon end after the Institute of Certified Public Accountants Rwanda (ICPAR) intensified training in professional courses, the ICPAR president, Francis Mugisha, has said.Mugisha said the institute would invest in quality accountancy training to narrow the skills gap and satisfy market demand. "To achieve our goal, we will partner with other institutions to train more professional accountants and auditors,” he said on Friday as 101 students completed the second Rwanda Certified Public Accounting (CPA) examinations held at the National University of Rwanda. Mugisha noted that training accountants and auditors locally would also fast-track efforts to satisfy market demand for qualified sector professionals.Evans Mulera, the ICPAR chief executive officer, said the body would increase the number of examination centres to make the programme more accessible and affordable. He noted that there was need to invest in accountants’ training institutions, which he said were also poorly equipped.susan.babijja@newtimes.co.rwThe accounting body estimates that the country has only 190 professional accountants hence the need to train more.Among other measures, in May2012 year, ICPAR developed its syllabus with the assistance of their counterparts from the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Ireland, a body that has existed for the last 70 years and also recognised by IFAC.