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Accountants are architects of economic transformation, custodians of corporate and public finance, and enablers of national development, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said.
In his address at the 9th Zimbabwe Accountants Conference, convened under the theme “Future Ready Profession: Innovate with Integrity, Sustain with Purpose,” President Mnangagwa said the meeting could not have come at a better time. The conference was organised by the Public Accountants and Auditors Board (PAAB).
“The theme of the conference resonates deeply with Zimbabwe’s national vision for economic growth and stability, as we march towards our goal of becoming an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
“Accountants are not mere record-keepers of financial transactions. You are architects of economic transformation, custodians of corporate and public finance, and enablers of national development. Whether in the private sector or the public domain, your work directly influences the efficiency, transparency, and accountability of Zimbabwe’s economic activities,” President Mnangagwa said.
Accountants in Zimbabwe play a crucial role in achieving the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) objectives, which focus on economic growth, stability, and transformation from 2021 to 2025. The accountancy profession’s contributions align with key pillars of NDS1, including economic growth, governance, and fiscal stability. Accountants are key in Strengthening Public Finance Management (PFM) through improving financial transparency, accountability, and efficiency in public sector entities and in ensuring proper budget implementation, reducing corruption, and improving audit processes in government institutions.
Accountants are also key in Enhancing Tax Revenue Collection & Compliance through supporting tax planning, compliance, and reporting for businesses and individuals, ensuring more revenue is collected to fund NDS1 programs, and assisting the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) in enforcing tax regulations and minimizing tax evasion.
President Mnangagwa said the Government recognises the role of Accountants in Supporting Private Sector Growth and Investment by maintaining accurate financial records, helping businesses to attract investment, access funding, and comply with financial regulations. Accountants are also key in Driving Digital Transformation & Financial Inclusion and Enhancing Corporate Governance & Ethical Standards
In the private sector, accountants are at the heart of driving investment, corporate governance, and financial discipline. Your strategic financial insights support business growth, ensuring that enterprises are competitive, innovative, and sustainable. They are central to Zimbabwe’s industrialization and modernization efforts, ensuring that businesses thrive in a globalized economy.
“In the public sector, accountants are the gatekeepers of public funds. Every dollar spent must be accounted for. Efficient management of national resources ensures that government programs in infrastructure, healthcare, education, and agriculture yield tangible benefits for our people. Your profession stands as a pillar of service delivery, upholding the principles of financial prudence and fiscal discipline. I am fully aware of the implementation of the Roadmap for Zimbabwe’s Public Sector to migrate from cash accounting to the accrual-based International Public Sector Accounting Standards which ran from 2018 and is due for full implementation by the end of 2025. I urge all public sector entities that are lagging behind to diligently put measures in place that they implement by the deadline.”
In her presentation, Hon Senator Monica Mutsvangwa, the Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development, said the SME sector is the incubator for the development of a middle class, and the story of modern human progress recognizes the emergence of a Middle Class as the anchor of socio-political stability and driver of prosperity.
“This class is distinguished by its ownership of property and how it applies capital to create and churn out goods and services for trade. The accounting profession helps with the measurement of this endeavour so that resources can be channelled to maximum profit and other returns.
“Concomitantly, the Second Republic of His Excellency the President, Dr. E.D. Mnangagwa, has hit upon the Mantra of ‘Zimbabwe Is Open for Business’. At its core is the relentless drive to create a Zimbabwe Middle Class with its roots in property ownership. This is the context you must see the according of title deeds in existing houses in urban areas. The new security will ignite bank loans. The artisans’ industry will boom as home improvement takes off. The conversion of farm leases to title deeds is spawning village business units.
“The tobacco farmers in Hurungwe, the blueberry internet farmers, the Lowveld sugar and citrus growers all point to an emerging and prospering rural Middle Class. There is also the legalization of SME gold and other mining ventures since 2016. Whoever thought SME gold producers now end up accounting for 70% of the 30-to-40-ton horde of gold output annually. Their turnover now tops $ 2 billion. They are the veritable platform of our thriving ZiG currency,” Minister Mutsvangwa said
She added that the advent of a modern steel industry at Manhize DISCO is a shot in the arm to downstream steel fabrication. After all, steel is to nation-building what food is to human bodies. A lot of Steel SME businesses are already springing up to produce all sorts of widgets.
There is a deliberate and conscious nurturing of the growth of the middle class by the Second Republic translating into a tantalizing future for the accounting profession.
“After all, growing wealth needs measurement. And that is precisely your job. I look to more of your accounting professional prowess as we witness the organic development of this anchor social class in our historic national developmental drive.”
