Transcript ANAN Communique

ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL
ACCOUNTANTS OF NIGERIA
18TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE
ABUJA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE, ABUJA
4TH-7TH NOVEMBER, 2013
THEME OF CONFERENCE:
DEEPENING FINANCIAL SECTOR DEVELOPMENT:
THE CONTRIBUTION OF PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANTS
COMMUNIQUÉ
Preamble
1. The 18th Annual conference of the Association of National
Accountants of Nigeria held between 4th and 7th November,
2013 at the Abuja International Conference Centre deliberated
on the theme deepening financial sector development: the
contribution of professional accountants, with the following
sub-themes:
 The impact of corruption on sustainable economic reforms
 Driving Nigeria’s economic transformation: the role of
central Bank of Nigeria.
 Accounting regulation and economic transformation.
 The challenges of capital market regulations.
2. The keynote address was delivered on the theme by Mr.
Eamonn Siggins, CEO, Institute of Certified Public Accountants
in Ireland while papers on the sub-themes were presented by
distinguished scholars.
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Observations
3.
4.
5.
6.
At the end of the deliberations, the conference observed
that:
The challenge of redressing the core problems of
poverty, ignorance and disease is at the root of
economic transformation.
infrastructure, corruption and access to finance are key
challenges to Nigeria economic transformation.
sustainable economic development is bedeviled with
corruption and entrenched inefficiency in the third
world countries thereby resulting in mass
unemployment, instability and violence which hinder
development.
Nigeria’s growth acceleration in recent years has not
been associated with economic development in terms
of more jobs and better life for the people.
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Observations
7. the Nigerian economy is largely natural resource and
primary commodity-driven as agriculture and crude oil
production dominate the GDP with manufacturing sector
stagnating.
8. CBN has driven the Nigeria’s economic transformation
through financial sector reforms and financial sector
contribution to the real economy.
9. financial crisis brought regulatory and corporate
governance issues to the front burner as it exposed
weaknesses of the regulatory and supervisory
framework of countries.
10.the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) Act 2011 and
the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria are economic
transformation instruments that can enhance the roles
of Professional Accounting Organizations (PAOs).
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Observations
11.the limited knowledge of IFRS and IPSAS poses serious
challenge to regulators, public companies, external auditors and
PAOs.
12.despite the contribution of PAOs to improving global economic
performance, they have not been carried along in the reform
agenda.
13.PAOs can significantly contribute to improving global economic
performance through the implementation of the International
Financial Reporting Standards, International Education
Standards, International Auditing Standards, and International
Ethics Standards (IES).
14.despite the fact that more than 95% of enterprises across the
world are SMES accounting for more than 60% of private sector
employment, Small and Medium Practitioners (SMPs) have not
given them adequate attention.
15.PAOs are key to the conception and implementation of
government reforms.
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Observations
16.the limited knowledge of IFRS and IPSAS poses serious
challenge to regulators, public companies, external auditors
and PAOs.
17.despite the contribution of PAOs to improving global
economic performance, they have not carried along in the
reform agenda.
18.PAOs can significantly contribute to improving global
economic performance through the implementation of the
IFRS, IES, IAS, and International Ethics Standards (IES).
19.despite the fact that more than 95% of enterprises across the
world are SMES accounting for more than 60% of private
sector employment, Small and Medium Practitioners (SMPs)
have not given them adequate attention.
20.PAOs are key to the conception and implementation of
government reforms.
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Observations
21.the adoption and implementation of financial reporting
standards are areas where the roles of PAOs are most
needed.
22.corruption is a major threat to humanity, cancerous to
individuals and the economy, and central to the failure of
governance.
23.good governance, accountability, good financial
management and transparency are principal pillars in the
acceleration of economic development.
24.high quality corporate reporting is key to improving
transparency, facilitating the mobilization of domestic and
international investment, thus deepening the financial sector
development.
25.sustainable economic reforms in Nigeria is yet to attain its
desired expectations.
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Recommendations
The following recommendations, arising from the
observations were made at the conference:
1. There is need for the government to transform and
restructure the economy to create more wealth,
reduce poverty, minimize inequalities, strengthen
productive capacities, enhance social conditions of
Nigerians and consequently attain sustainable
development.
2.Government should improve the enterprise climate,
regulatory environment and global competitiveness
with infrastructure and access to financing to enable
businesses contribute to improve economic
performance.
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Recommendations
3.Government at all levels should take responsibility to
ensure accountability and transparency in
governance by addressing the challenges of
prudency and budget implementation towards
actualizing the transformation agenda.
4.Sanctions and criminal penalties for corrupt practices
should be handled decisively and expediently by
relevant agencies of government in Nigeria to serve
as deterrence to potential offenders.
5.Executive, legislative and judicial collaboration should
be engendered in public interest to prevent corruption
from weakening the dividends of economic
transformation in Nigeria.
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Recommendations
6.Government at all level should imbibe economic
discipline, policy consistency, and improve the
credibility of regulators and stakeholders in the
economy.
7.PAOs should proactively support SMEs through
SMPs and develop mechanisms that are targeted
toward SMEs to encourage their involvement in the
economic transformation.
8.PAOs should strengthen corporate governance
mechanisms and discharge their responsibilities
efficiently to other stakeholders.
9.PAOs should regularly lobby and advocate for
improvement in fiscal management based on
informed judgement evidence from research survey.
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Recommendations
10.PAOs membership operating in the private and
public sector organizations are a resource that should
be harnessed through strengthening of monitoring
mechanisms of their ethical conducts and
performance for the benefit of global economy.
11.PAOs should promote high quality financial reporting
disclosure to provide more relevant information for
making sound investment decisions and risk
assessment by educating their members to bridge
the knowledge-gap in financial reporting standards.
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