African Accounting Scholars Challenge Profit-First Reporting Models at Regional Summit

JOHANNESBURG. A three-day gathering at the University of Johannesburg put African accounting scholarship at the centre of a pointed economic argument: financial reporting frameworks built to record transactions are no longer fit for purpose. The 15th African Accounting and Finance Association Conference, hosted by UJ’s Department of Commercial Accounting from 1 to 3 September, drew delegates from across the continent and beyond to venues spanning UJ’s School of Tourism and Hospitality, the Maslow Hotel and Country Club Johannesburg.

The capital case was made plainly by Thamsanqa Zikode, Acting Head of Audit at the Auditor-General of South Africa. “Numbers without impact mean nothing,” he told delegates. “Accounting must translate into services, accountability and tangible improvements in society.” Zikode pressed financial reporting to connect directly to service delivery outcomes, arguing that governance structures must ensure resources flow ethically and effectively to build public trust and drive social progress. The message was less academic than operational: public money, tracked by public accountants, must demonstrably reach its intended destination.

The institutional scale behind the conference is considerable. Prof Tankiso Moloi, Dean of the College of Business and Economics, noted that UJ’s CBE operates with approximately 3,000 students in formal programmes, nearly 10,000 in non-subsidised programmes and over 1,000 staff members. The College accounts for roughly 40 percent of UJ’s total student body, with the School of Accounting among South Africa’s largest producers of qualified accountants. UJ holds the top ranking in South Africa for Business and Economics according to Times Higher Education. Moloi shifted the conference’s success metric away from publication volume toward structural effect: “The success of this conference will not be the elegance of our conversations but the structural change we trigger which will be strong enough to carry generations across divisions and wide enough to connect our institutions, markets and people.”

By contrast, the opening address from Prof Eita Hinaunye, Vice Dean for Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Studies in the CBE, trained attention on the global knowledge economy and Africa’s position within it. Hinaunye challenged what he described as an extractive research model, one in which Africa supplies raw data for questions formulated elsewhere. “Our continent has its own institutions, challenges, innovations and experiences that can contribute significantly to global accounting and finance scholarship,” he said. His framing identified the forces reshaping the field’s investment case: digitalisation, artificial intelligence, climate change and sustainability.

The conference’s first day centred on an Emerging Scholars Colloquium, featuring 27 presentations across two sessions drawn from multiple institutions. AAFA President Prof Olayinka Moses welcomed the colloquium as a space for mentorship and scholarly community building. Keynote speakers included Prof Nerrisa C. Brown from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Prof John Dumay from Macquarie University, both of whom engaged postgraduate and early-career researchers alongside established academics.

The final day’s keynote came from Manenzhe Manenzhe (FCCA), who addressed the evolving professional identity of accountants. He argued that future practitioners must “speak truth to power” while adopting tools like artificial intelligence responsibly and protecting professional integrity.

Research recognition at the conference pointed to where the field is directing its attention. Tumi Kharivhe, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Commercial Accounting, received recognition for her paper on rehabilitation liabilities and fund adequacy in South Africa’s mining sector (a topic with direct implications for how extractive industries account for long-term environmental obligations). Kurt Naicker, also a Senior Lecturer in the department and a chartered accountant, was recognised for research on integrating artificial intelligence literacy into African accounting education and training. The prestigious Ibrahim Bedi Award for Best Auditing and Ethics Paper was conferred during the conference, sponsored by Professors Teerooven Soobaroyen and Mathew Tsamenyi.

The conference closed with a gala dinner at Country Club Johannesburg, themed around African traditional heritage and featuring performances by Soul Melodies and a drum group. Whether the structural changes Moloi called for materialise in curriculum, regulation or reporting standards is the question the field now carries home.