A noble and dedicated candidate who also served as a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) panel in Botswana. He has served with enthusiasms and integrity over the past 10 years in an audit and accounting environment. His accounting experience includes public and private sector and diverse industries, including non-profit NGOS. Driven by passion after achieving all the required experience, He formed Mamlathan & Associates and became the managing partner of this Audit Tax & Advisory firm as well as Whiteprint (PTY)LTD on the accounting side.

Over the years, he has shared his knowledge in different platforms encouraging, guiding and mentoring students, affiliates and members in their Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) journey and also served as an ACCA advocate. His journey began in 2013 when he got his Association of Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) qualification and started one of the fast-growing firm in2014, located in Botswana. It is focusing on consultation, audit as well as tax and advisory.

As Association of Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) member he embraced several business opportunities as a Practicing partner and would like to contribute in the Global Strategy and Governance of ACCA. He is standing proudly as ACCA Fellow Member and would like to make all members proud of their ACCA membership as a Global Dynamic Accounting Body. Mr. Mompati Kgaimena is aware and mindful of the challenges faced by members and students of ACCA, particularly in new and developing markets, especially now that the African industries are growing. The contribution he is willing to bring as council member will add value in accounting and business, in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). His wish is to serve on the Council and be involved at the strategic level, examining issues of wider reaching and longer-term importance and help in establishing ACCA’s position on global issues.

Privatisation in Africa: Q4 summary

• Privatisation has progressed more slowly in sub-Saharan Africa than in other regions 
• Many state-owned enterprises are seen as vehicles to pursue economic policy objectives
• Privatisation will accelerate as the fiscal opportunity costs become more apparent

Read more: https://www.icaew.com/technical/economy/economic-insight/economic-insight-africa

The current Revenue Sharing Formula has three components; namely the Customs Component, Excise Component and the Development Component. The Customs share is allocated on the basis of each country’s share of intra-SACU imports. The Excise Component is allocated on the basis of each country’s share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Development Component, which is fixed at 15 percent of total excise revenue, and is distributed according to the inverse of each country’s GDP per capita.

Read more:https://www.sacu.int/category.php?cat=Review%20of%20the%20Revenue%20Sharing%20Arrangement

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/21/trump-signing-hong-kong-rights-bill-could-hurt-us-china-relationship.html

As in any market, there will be losers and winners—some of which are already emerging. This article presents reflections from five of Africa’s leaders. Taken together, their insights illustrate what is needed to thrive on the continent. Nadia Fettah, CEO of Saham Finances, describes the strategic revitalization of the Moroccan insurance company she leads. James Mwangi, the CEO of another financial-services player, Equity Bank, explains how his company has innovated its business model to boost financial inclusion. Aliko Dangote, who has transformed a trading company into a large-scale manufacturer, elaborates on the resilience he’s trying to build into Dangote Industries and how he hopes this will help the company thrive far into the future.

Botswana is located at the center of southern Africa, positioned between South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. One of the world’s poorest countries at independence in 1966, it rapidly became one of the world’s development success stories. Significant mineral (diamond) wealth, good governance, prudent economic management and a relatively small population of more than two million, have made it an upper middle-income country. The World Bank’s engagement is focused on helping it consolidate its progress while addressing a range of persistent and emerging challenges.

Political Context

Botswana has a stable political environment with a multi-party democratic tradition. General elections are held every five years. The ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has been in power since 1966. With the end of his second five-year term, President Ian Khama stepped down and, as per convention, the Vice-President (Mokgweetsi Eric Masisi) assumed the Presidency on April 1 and will stand for the Presidency in the next general elections.

Economic Overview

Since gaining independence from Britain, Botswana has been one of the world’s fastest growing economies, averaging 5% per annum over the past decade. Its reliance on commodities renders it vulnerable to international market fluctuations.  Economic activity is expected to intensify to 4.5% in 2017, up to 4.8% by 2019.  Economic growth will be driven by the mining activity, construction, services sector and intensified public investments.

The National Budget for 2018/19 was passed. Presented to Parliament on February 5, 2018, the new budget puts total expenditure and net lending at P67.87 billion (33.4% of gross domestic product (GDP)), an increase of P8.3 billion (1.3%) compared to the previous fiscal year. The (capital) budget is P19.31 billion, up by P2.4 billion (16.6%) over the previous fiscal year. A budget deficit of P3.59 billion (1.8% of GDP) is expected despite the positive domestic economic outlook.

Read more on: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/botswana/overview

According to Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA)’s Public Relations and Marketing Manager, Oupa Gaofise, of the 3 136 registered members, only 1 223 are accounting professionals while 1 913 are Accounting Technicians.

Speaking at a breakfast session at Adansonia Hotel in Francistown on Tuesday, Gaofise said even more worrying is that the country still relies heavily on expatriates for accounting services.

“We still import accountants and this can’t be good,” said Gaofise.

He said they are worried as BICA hence they are the ones directly involved with the issuance of residence and work permits of expatriate Chartered Accountants.

“Immigration officials consult us and we clear these individuals to be given work permits,” he said.

Gaofise said BICA have come up with initiatives to lure locals into the profession.

He said their efforts face challenges due to qualified professionals who leave the country for greener pastures abroad.

“The BICA Qualification is one such initiative in which we encourage more professionals to study for this qualification and register with us,” Gaofise said.

BICA introduced its own professional accountancy qualification following the passing of the Accountancy Act in 2010.

This, according to Gaofise, was after the realisation that the economy needed a strong accountancy profession.

“BICA entered into a twinning arrangement with one of the world’s leading professional bodies, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), to facilitate the development of the BICA qualification,” he said.

He said the arrangement signed in 2015 enables dual membership on both bodies and therefore international recognition and portability to the qualification.

He further said registering with BICA is important as it enables them to protect the public interest by ensuring that highest standards are observed.

Read more on: https://thevoicebw.com/acute-shortage-accountants-bica/