Amaka Obiefuna

The global president of ACCA, Ms Orla Collins, said that ACCA is for everyone, and that is why “we open the chance for professional career to everyone. That is why we make the ACCA qualification so flexible, to ensure that no one is left behind”.

She made this remark during her welcome address at the 7th ACCA Annual Summit with theme: Building blocks for emerging careers’ held in Lagos to motivate and educate students. Damilola Lawal, Treasury planning and control,Total Energies who was the moderator of the event ,Folawe Omikunle – CEO, Teach for Nigeria , Maris Akinsulere -Head,Recruitment-KPMG, Nigeria, Dr. Adedeji Kowobari- Lead, Concierge DentistNG, Ayo-Bankole Akintujoye -Convener , Lagos SME Bootcamp and Abisola Adefarati -FCCA Ex-Finance Director-Coca-Cola Nigeria were all in attendance at this year summit. Convener, Lagos SME Bootcamp,Ayo-Bankole urged the students to be proactive and have a sense of self leadership.He said, “One downside about social media is people/employers are attracted more by packaging then realize there’s little substance out of the packaging.

“Work on yourself as well as the packaging,be proactive, be rigorous, be Emphatic towards others ,be humble because only the humble can truly learn” Folawe stressed on the importance of learning, while explaining that continuous learning is the only way  to improve oneself personally and professionally. Meanwhile,Head Recruitment-KPMG, Maris Akinsulere, elaborated employability actions. “You buy your future. We are in an era where we have everything at our disposal with a high level of distractions.The first thing to do is to sieve through the distractions, have a strong digital skill and the need to differentiate between getting a job and getting a career”. Others like FCCA Ex-Finance Director-Coca-Cola Abisola Adefarati said strategies that employers can adopt to harness employees great potential, saying, “Build a culture of entrepreneurship in organizations.

Employers should provide real time feedbacks for the new generation employees to bring their A game” Also, Dr Adedeji advice that employers should encourage the new generation employees to be entrepreneurial and create platforms for mentorship” The Keynote speaker and CFO, Sub Saharan Africa Tecnimont Nigeria , Alessandro Amoruso buttressed Adedeji that students should constantly update themselves, saying,  “You need to constantly update yourself, try to keep your knowledge up to date at all ages”. In his vote of thanks, Tom Isibor, Head, ACCA Nigeria admonished that ” this year, we have focused not only on necessary actions that help improve employability amongst early career professionals, but we also taking a thorough look at the disruptions in our world of finance with particular attention on the continuous evolution of the profession today and in the near future”

The highlight of the event was the presentation of the award by Tom Isibor to the panelists

The Senior Business Development Head for ACCA Nigeria, Aderonke Adebule shares the inspiration for the event, is the current youth unemployment level in the country and while ACCA may not be able to create jobs for every young participant at the event, it aims to create mind shifts. According to ACCA report, GEN Z- Groundbreakers, 9000 young people were surveyed globally and findings share that the biggest concerns cited were job security and well being. The plenary session “Action for Employment” addresses the changing employment landscape and how these young and aspiring professionals can start to build sustainable futures through the mentorship provided today at the Lagos Summit.