By Judith Ugwumadu | 24 October 2014
A Ghanaian accountancy institute has teamed up with the country’s accountant-general department to boost the quality of public financial management in the West African nation.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) to improve accountancy practices.
To achieve this, the ICAG said the skills and abilities of public accountants would be upgraded for ‘the achievement of high-quality PFM in Ghana’.
Under this collaboration, the ICAG and CAGD will promote the adoption and implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and other best practices in PFM.
Both parties will: identify PFM skills gaps with the accountancy profession, particularly in the public sector; and develop a package of measures including training designed to improve PFM skills of ICAG members and public accountants.
In addition, the two institutions will provide quality assurance for IPSAS implementation; monitor and evaluate IPSAS implementation support; and develop a PFM Centre of Excellence.
ICAG president Kwame Boasiako Omane-Antwi said the institute’s support for PFM reform would improve fiscal discipline in government.
He also assured the government of the ICAG’s support for the implementation of on-going Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (GIFMIS).
Ghana’s controller & accountant general Grace Adzroe praised the ICAG for shifting its accountancy practice focus from the private to the public sector.
She said shift was ‘a step in the right direction’ because of ‘the demand by stakeholders for a more effective and efficient use of public resources, and for accountability, transparency and good governance’.
This summer, CIPFA partnered with the ICAG to advance high-quality PFM systems in Ghana through a number of initiatives, including financial management reform, capacity building and training for government and public sector finance staff.
