The response by the Government of Rwanda to the coronavirus outbreak deserves credit. Support from companies and individuals—monetary, food and equipment donations—have supplemented Government’s relief programmes. In addition to the financial stimulus, the Government initiated the distribution of food to the most vulnerable members of the society. Although several people and organisations still feel anxious about what the future holds, some experts are already far beyond the current happenings with the zeal of what should define a professional. As might be expected, some are on the field, whilst others are busy working remotely. For instance, the innovation by biomedical engineers from the Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centre Kigali to start producing locally-made ventilators in response to the Covid-19 pandemic is a remarkable progress. What we can derive from this initiative is not just the ability to produce ventilators, but rather the importance of collaboration in public interest projects during such unprecedented times. The biomedical engineers’ story fosters the need for Africa and Rwanda in particular to continue taking advantage of technological advances to industrialise, pursue inclusive growth and attract investments. Technology should be at the forefront of driving new solutions to Africa’s development challenges such as access to healthcare and education. As innovation is at the heart of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), reinforcing national and institutional capacity to drive and support innovation and create an enabling business environment will be essential for success. The 4IR capabilities such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used to realise Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as improved quality of education, poverty reduction and bridging inequality among others. This 4IR is believed to spearhead transformative changes via the fundamental interruption of virtually all sectors of the global economy. Similarly, governments considering investing deeper in high-speed internet connection, for example, are believed to promote gender equality, improve health services, combat climate change, advance education thereby contributing to poverty alleviation. If all professions were to react in a comparable manner, the SDGs which aim at sustaining people, planet and prosperity equally enshrined in Africa’s Agenda 2063 would be steadily attained. Like other stakeholders, accountants are expected to play a critical role in contributing towards attaining the aspirations of the African Union (AU). To make the most of the 4IR, African governments and entrepreneurs need to recognise new niches for industry and leverage them for sustainable inclusive growth. There’s need to take decisive steps to bridge the digital divide, improve infrastructure as well as research and development to which professional accountants can immensely contribute. The African Continental Free Trade Agreement offers a unique opportunity to enhance governance around the 4IR. With aligned policies and procedures, the continent can adapt to the rapid changes of the 4IR and leverage it to accelerate participation in global value chains. Mindset and behaviours will have to change to embrace a complex environment, with greater emphasis on creativity and imagination, in which lifelong learning will be essential, which is considered as key to career sustainability. Undesirably, it is equally believed that most of the jobs in the era of the 4IR will be automated which calls governments to prepare for the shift such that unemployment levels do not unnecessarily escalate, since present circumstances certainly appear to result in huge unemployment if States do not prepare for the needed transformation. For public sector entities, it appears they do lack resources, have inadequate knowledge and skills in understanding the dynamics of the 4IR, and the bureaucracies which impede the effective adoption and implementation of the technological advancements. Similarly, access to advanced technology in Africa is still constrained by infrastructure parameters such as lack of electricity, internet density, and broadband penetration which is needed to drive and sustain economic transformation. The main setback about job losses especially the workforce in the manufacturing sector, and the associated quite worrying effects which include increased inequalities and a reduction in life expectancy within African societies, appear to emphasize African governments to promote their agricultural production along with industrialization by promoting local industries to add value to raw materials they produce. Finance professionals will need to use their competencies to learn how to manage the finance function in a digital world. This will require a deeper understanding of the technologies, algorithms, data and organisational structures that are emerging in the digital age including adoption of a holistic education system where students are taught how to learn rather than what to learn. Unlike a few accounting practices that would still require human judgement, most of the auditors’ work will also be part of the transformation through AI technologies if the example of some scholar (Colins) who in 2017 narrated how one of the Big Four firms consulted a software to interpret a new accounting standard with the use of a machine learning AI, and it did it better than an experienced auditor, is to go by. Accountants should consequently be responsive and not look at technology as a replacement of their work but rather something that has come to provide endless opportunities and therefore the need to take advantage of it by being flexible and agile. Professional Accountancy Organisations (PAOs) should therefore collaborate with their respective governments among other stakeholders to address the issue of employability as they leverage over the 4IR technologies. While the PAO’s approach is more likely to concentrate on the accountancy profession, the government should adopt a holistic approach to improve living standards of all citizens. Finally, governments with other educational stakeholders should endeavour to sensitize the public, mainly the youth on the emerging impact of technological transformations and the nature of the training required for one to be relevant on the labour market. The 41R is already here with us, please align yourself to the future now! The author is the Director, Professional Development Services at the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Rwanda (ICPAR) The views expressed in this article are of the author.
