Financial Mail Page 1 -22/08/2013 12:00:21 PM by introducing a new brand name,” says EY Africa CEO Ajen Sita. “Ernst & Young was reborn as EY, a cleaner, clearer and more modern

Financial Mail Page 1 -22/08/2013 12:00:21 PM


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A better working world starts with the world that matters most to you

Every day, every EY person is part of building a better working world - for our people, our clients and our communities.

ey.com/betterworkingworld

@EY_Africa


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to its operation?“One of the desires that emerged from

this study was that EY Global has astrong desire, a responsibility even, tobuild a better working environment,” s ay sSita. “Thus, the purpose statement of ourVision 2020 strategy became a commit-ment to building a better working world.”

To achieve this EY is challenging everyaspect of its business, including its ser-vice delivery model and its interactions

with clients, communitiesand staff.

At some level the firmhas already been meetingits “building a better work-ing world” objective. AsSita observes, EY’s auditbusiness plays a huge part

in ensuring the integrity of large publiccompanies with positive consequencesfor the economies in which they operate.

“Our advisory business helps govern-ments to reorganise state-owned firms tomake those businesses more competitivein the market-place,” he says. “The thingswe do as a firm contribute to a better

we were already living it,” he says.Vision 2020 is about repositioning EY

in the context of the competitive en-vironment in which it operates. It reflectsthe firm’s desire to focus on qualities thatdifferentiate it from its competitors.“There is a perception thatthe ‘big four’ professionalservices firms are largelythe same,” he says. “T hecynics say we all do similarwork, recruit from thesame universities, servesimilar clients and providethe same services, but that is somethingEY will never accept.”

To address this perception EY com-missioned a study to ask some searchingquestions, including: Why does it do thethings it does? What motivates the firmto take up one opportunity and pass onanother? And is there a higher purpose

CORPORATE REPORT EY AFRICA

C l ea r

Business with purpose the backbone ofthe integrated Africa practice

EY Africa, with support from EY Global,has spared no expense in creating anintegrated Africa practice to position itselffor emerging market growth. The latestinnovation is the recent announcement ofthe firm’s global Vision 2020 strategy,which has coincided with a huge re-branding and advertising campaign.

“On July 1 we changed our visualidentity by introducing a new brandname,” says EY Africa CEO Ajen Sita.“Ernst & Young was reborn as EY, acleaner, clearer and more modern brand.”

Though competitors and potentialclients will have been surprised by thenews, Vision 2020 has been part of lifefor EY’s 167 000 employees for the pasteight months.

“We needed all of our people to un-derstand the new strategy, look at in-ternal systems and processes and drivechange, so that when we went to market

Ajen Sita

vision

WHAT IT MEANS

> Plan to strengthenfi r m ’s positioning

> New purpose set tocreate better focus

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world — our principle purpose and brandstatement — encapsulates everything westand for as an organisation. We arebuilding a firm that offers great op-portunity to its people and assists itsclients to navigate throughout Africa. Wealso play an important role in strength-ening governance across the continent.”She adds that though the strong EY brandhas helped open doors on the continent,the firm has to deliver “on the ground”.

One of the limiting factors for foreigndirect investment into Africa is a short-age of skilled people. On this frontDavies is careful to distinguish betweentalent — which Africa has an abundanceof — and specific project experience,

franchise-type practices, each with its ownway of doing things. Now they receiveconsistent levels of service across all of ourAfrica practices through a single contact.”

One of the complexities EY Africa hashad to deal with over the years is that ofcultural differences. “Being integrateddoes not mean that our people have to bethe same,” says Davies. “Instead we tooka decision to understand the diversityacross the Africa firm and harness it.”

It helps that EY Africa is built aroundan inclusive leadership team that is or-ganised under three operational pillars:functional support; the geographical di-mension; and service lines and sectors.

“When we first came together as onebusiness across Africa there was l i tt l ecommon ground between one practiceand the next,” s ay s Davies. “To addressthe trust issue we first had to make surethat we were running the business withone version of the truth.”

EY has spent the past three yearsputting in place commonsystems for practice man-agement, sales pipelines,resource managementand risk management,among others, to createthis “truth”.

The firm now has the infrastructure inplace to run its 33 Africa practices as asingle business and the leadership hasoversight, in real time, of the activities ateach point of presence on the continent.At any time management knows what aparticular Africa market’s transactionpipeline looks like and what its people

are busy with, enabling sensible deploy-ment of resources.

With its integrated Africapractice in place, EY Africawill play an integral part inthe global firm’s Vision2020 strategy. “EY Globalwants us to be market lead-ers across Africa by pro-

viding exceptional client service to bothmultinational and Africa-headquarteredclients,” says Davies. “We are blessed bythe level of support we receive from themby way of expertise, capacity and a gen-erous cash investment programme.”

She is excited about the new EY brandpositioning. “Building a better working

If you are looking for a single word todescribe the operational challengesacross EY’s 33 Africa markets, then“comple xity” fits the bill nicely.

Multinational firms that are keen toestablish a presence in sub-SaharanAfrica face complex geographies, complexregulatory environments and complex taxregimes across multiple country markets.

“We decided on an integrated Africapractice to reduce these complexities andbetter meet our clients’ service expec-t at i o n s , ” says EY Africa chief operatingofficer Val Davies. “In the past a multi-national account with businesses acrossAfrica would have dealt with dozens of

service to society, and recognising thisplaces a higher purpose on what we do.”

The Vision 2020 strategy comprisesthree pillars: a relentless focus on win-ning in the market; creating the highestperforming teams; and strengtheningglobal and empowering local.

Pillar one is about providing clientswith exceptional service. EY offers itsclients insight into the challenges theyface in conducting business on theAfrican continent as well as innovativesolutions to business challenges. Inter-connectedness is critical to this rela-tionship and clients must feel that EY isa partner in their success.

“We create the highest performingteams by combining professionals thatare diverse across race, gender, ethnicity,culture and educational background,”says Sita. “In sub-Saharan Africa we haveintegrated all of our businesses into asingle Africa firm, with highly flexibleand mobile teams ready for deploymentwherever required.”

EY now boasts a single executive teamthat is responsible for the practice acrossAfrica. And the firm is already benefitingfrom a four-year long programme todevelop all of its employees in the sameway. Sita says the Africa workforce is atremendous differentiator in the market

place as it is experienced across geogra-phies, markets and cultures.

Another differentiator is the US$200m— $100m each to capacity building andphysical infrastructure — invested by EYGlobal in the Africa firm. “Our Africainvestment plan has enabled us to recruitaggressively and also to complete ac-quisitions to build capacity for our cur-rent and future needs,” he says.

The firm acquired an SA-based ac-tuarial consultancy 18 months ago andmore recently bought a consultancy inthe people and organisation space. Inaddition to this, EY has opened newpractices in growth markets such asSouth Sudan, the Democratic Republic ofCongo, Cameroon, Chad and Angola.

“We ’ve grown our partner numbers byabout 50% over the past three years bybringing in direct-entry partners withsignificant market skills, positioning EYas the ‘go to’ professional services firm inAfrica,” says Sita.

Internally, Vision 2020 can be seen asa consolidation and verbalisation of thethings that EY is getting right. “T heredesigned brand is about demonstratinga greater social conscience and acknowl-edging our responsibility to make a gen-uine contribution to the people in ourorganisation and the wider community in

A diverseO ve rco m i n gcomplexity vital fo ra strong presenceon the continent

WHAT IT MEANS

> Focus is on breakingdown all barriers

> Optimal allocation ofresources a priority


Val Davies

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which we operate.”As a reflection of this commitment to

EY culture, visitors to EY Johannesburgmay notice an interesting artistic “in-s tallation” branching off from the pro-fessional services firm’s reception area.

What they will be looking at is a visualrepresentation of a two-year long culturebuilding exercise undertaken among staffacross the group’s 33 Africa markets.

The result, expressed as a formulacalled Our EY, is common to every EYemployee regardless of culture, language,education or geographic location. “Weasked our staff to identify ‘top line’ be-haviours — things they wanted to seemore of throughout the organisation —and offset these against ‘bottom line’ orunwanted behaviours,” says Sita.

Top line items include such attributesas “delivering great service to clients” and“exhibiting great leadership” versus bot-tom line items like “too much red tape”and “poor communication”. The sum ofthe top line divided by the sum of thebottom line equals “Our EY”.

“Our people want to maximise the topline and minimise the bottom line,” s ay sSita. “And because the formula is some-thing they developed rather than some-thing forced on them by management,the buy-in is phenomenal.” ■

a p p roa c h Mindset and culture changeGetting EY Africa’s workforce behindthe firm’s rebranding strategy has beena vital step in ensuring that the changesare not only driven from the top buthave the support of all its employees.

As a result, “building a better workingworld” — the company’s purpose andbrand statement — is now becomingpart of the company culture.

“Building a better working worldpoints to the general workplace conductI exhibit in the areas of integrity, re-spect and relationship with colleagues.

All of all these speak to living out EYvalues. It describes how and what I amdoing does not only impact but im-proves the immediate environmentwhere I work,” says Philip Okafor, se-nior associate for accounts, industries &business development in Nigeria.

This notion of building a better worldhas also been extended to how EYAfrica’s people interact with clients.“Understanding what your client needsis the essential first step to being able toshow how EY could help them. It’s a

particular mindset that one needs toc ultivate,” says Pramit Nathoo, directorfor assurance at EY SA.

For David Wanyoike, EY Kenya se-nior manager for tax, this also “i nv o l v e sdoing what you believe is correct — notjust what you are asked to do”.

Another part of the rebranding hasbeen to ensure the firm optimises itsskills and resources. “In building a betterworking world, I plan to practically ap-ply the lessons learnt from experiencesin my client engagements. I will also bein a position to coach and mentor oth-ers,” says Xola Nouse, assistant managerfor advisory services in SA. ■

A strong base An artist’s impression of the new EY offices in Sandton



ness environment. She says in order tocontribute to the sustainability of emerg-ing market economies in Africa it madesense to extend the NextGen programmebeyond EY.

The EY SA NextGen programme ischarged with bringing the next gener-ation of black women into the leadershipfi e l d . Now in its second year, the pro-gramme assists 82 girls from disadvan-taged communities with tuition, lead-ership development training and accessto technology and bursaries, among oth-ers. “We want to provide these futureleaders with everything they need to

SKILLS TRANSFER

A focus on gender equityWith the state of SA’s education systemconstantly under the spotlight, there isan assumption that professional servicesfirms struggle to find suitable skills onthe African continent. Though it is truethat some specialised skill sets are hardto find, EY Africa says there are pocketsof skills available in each of the countriesin which it conducts business.

For example, SA produces world-classchartered accountants. “Any specialistskills that we require can be sourcedfrom the diaspora or seconded from EYGlobal,” says EY Africa and Emeia (Eu-rope, Middle East, India & Africa) talentleader Seshni Samuel. “To ensurethat we can compete globally anddeliver exceptional service to ourclients we recruit both experiencedpost-graduates with specific indus-try knowledge and graduates freshout of university.”

The firm invests in graduates’ de-velopment by way of internshipsand traineeships to ensure that theyare ready for much bigger roleswithin the firm or in the broaderAfrican economy. This policy en-sures a pipeline of capable indi-viduals to meet the firm’s long-termhuman resources capacity needs.

EY has also committed to a num-ber of skills development projectsover the years. “One of these is aninternal global development pro-gramme called NextGen, wherebywe identify talented employees atsenior management level and de-velop them as potential future busi-ness leaders or partners of the firm,”says Samuel.

Though the programme addressesmany of EY’s internal staffing re-quirements, it soon became apparentthat more had to be done in thebroader macroeconomic and busi-

unlock their potential,” Samuel s ay s .“It is a long-term commitment that is

aligned with our purpose to build abetter working world for our people, ourclients and our communities. We haveambitious plans to roll out similar pro-grammes at every EY office across therest of Africa.” The intention is that“g ra d u at e s ” from this programme becomeproductive members of society and con-tribute to a better working world.

Over the past seven years EY hasfrequently scooped “Top 10 Best Em-ployer” accolades in annual employeesatisfaction surveys conducted by theCRF SA Institute.

And the firm is one of only sevencompanies — and the only professionalservices firm — to be certified by CRF SAas a Top 10 employer across Africa. This

is an impressive achievement giventhe need to integrate practices in 33different countries on the continent.

For five consecutive years EY haswon the Fasset (Seta for finance,accounting, management consulting& other financial services) MakingBest Practice Count award for learn-ing and development.

To succeed as an integrated Africafirm EY strives to implement con-sistent policies, procedures and work-ing environments. “As a minimum wemeet the labour practices that areunique to a given country, but we alsoapply an internal EY standard thateach of our Africa offices aspires to,”says Samuel. “Wherever we operatewe strive to create a consistent andmeaningful employee experience.”

She says the firm’s performance inthe CRF SA annual survey confirmsits success in creating an exceptionalworking environment for employees,thereby attracting top talent. “Fe a -turing in the Best Employer surveyallows us to constantly benchmarkourselves against our peers as well asassure our staff that they are work-ing in the best possible firm to fur-ther their careers,” she says.

In a world that is more complex, dy-namic and competitive than ever before,EY’s clients expect to be served seam-lessly by the right team of professionals,regardless of specialisation or geography.

Their definition of service quality goesbeyond that of technical excellence.Clients want professional serviceproviders who are connected to theirbusiness issues, responsive to their needsand provide valuable insights.

“To be the growth leader, we mustreconcile and rationalise our prioritiesand focus on the parts of the market bestaligned to our ambitions,” says EY mar-kets leader Sugan Palanee.

“We must be able to create a dif-ferentiated client experience throughworldwide commitment to deliver excep-tional client service. We must win in themarkets where the growth potential isgreatest, choosing the right accounts and

delivering the right services.”The accounts, industries & business de-

velopment (AIBD) function under Pala-nee’s leadership supports the firm and itsvarious service lines to ensure top linegrowth. Part of the unit’s responsibility isto bolster group revenues organically bygrowing existing EY accounts, bringingnew accounts into the fold and acquiringnew businesses that are complementary toEY’s existing strategy.

“Each of our key accounts operates in aspecific industry,” says Palanee. “It is myresponsibility to ensure that our effortsare co-ordinated from an industry pointof view and that we are market leaders inour chosen industries.”

His team is also tasked with cham-pioning the EY brand across Africa, in-cluding the advertising, marketing andbrand-building initiatives that go with it.Any pursuit that the Africa firm embarks

upon gets the once-over from the AIBDteam to ensure that the brand is po-sitioned correctly, the project is in linewith the EY Global strategy and it isrelevant to its client communities.

Concise and up-to-date information onAfrica markets is vital to EY’s multi-national clients as they invest in thecontinent. EY answers this need throughits Africa Business Center.

“As we integrated across the Africancontinent we realised that both ourmultinational clients and prospectiveclients struggled to obtain readily avail-able and accurate information on Africa,”he says.

“To address this shortcoming we cre-ated an interactive platform called Grow-ing Beyond Borders. It consolidates in-formation from different publiclyavailable sources and enables corpora-tions, at the click of a button, to view thevital economic statistics and subtle nu-ances that exist between African markets.

“The Africa Business Center can becustomised to meet specific client in-formation needs and gives executive

Ambitious employees are flexible andmobile, ready to be deployed whereverthe Africa firm might need them.

EY has found that staff who are willingto travel and participate in internationalwork experience initiatives — such as itsNew Horizons programme — gain in-valuable experience, form lasting workrelationships with colleagues throughoutthe world and gain a deeper insight intoand respect for the cultures that make upthe EY firm.

“The EY global vision is really in-s p i rat i o n a l , ” says Samuel. “It is aboutbuilding a better working world. It tran-scends every market in which we operateand is about providing our clients withexceptional experience.”

As Emeia talent leader, Samuel playsan important role in ensuring that EY isappropriately resourced to achieve thisvision.

She believes that the firm’s competitiveadvantage depends on having the highest

performing teams in place to deliverexceptional client services worldwide.This is achieved by pooling high per-forming individuals with common goalsand vision and developing their talentsby giving them the right experiences andthe right platform to achieve their fullpotential in a team environment.

“Vision 2020 encourages us to tackleprojects like NextGen with relentless en-thusiasm and assists us in making a reald i ff e r e n c e ,” says Samuel. ■


MARKET REACH

Responsive and insightful

which is in short supply: “One of thelegacies that EY Africa must leave is thetransfer of skills and knowledge fromdeployed EY resources to on-the-groundresources whenever it completes difficultprojects in Africa.”

EY’s expansion into Africa is not aboutcolouring more countries on the map —it is about establishing points of presencein direct response to clients’ needs. “Wehave to create support structures in re-sponse to market demand,” she says.

“And that does not mean opening anoffice in every country.

“Our success hinges on the utilisationof available resources across the con-tinent rather than building an island inas many markets as possible.” ■

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Grooming visionaries NextGen girls at a recent visit to the Sci Bono Discovery Centre in Newtown



teams a better understanding of Africa.This makes a competitive difference forour clients’ decision-making processes.”

The EY Markets unit is also the driv-ing force behind entrepreneurship pro-grammes across Africa. The firm un-derstands that today’s entrepreneurs willbe part of the pool of potential future EYclients.

“We invest in what can best be de-scribed as ‘green shoot’ ventures to nur-ture and guide these start-ups until theybecome fully fledged corporations,” s ay sPalanee. “EY understands that not everyfirm will grow to become a multinational,so our assistance is directed at helpingthem to be successful in the broadereconomy they operate in.”

If one accepts that entrepreneurshipcreates employment — and that bothbusiness and the broader economy flour-ish as unemployment declines — then afocus on entrepreneurship makes sense.

The recent announcement of Vision2020 and the unveiling of the mod-ernised EY brand have upped the stakesacross the EY firm globally. Palanee wel-comes the new strategy for its clearbias towards emerging markets.

“SA — and other countries acrossthe continent — slot squarely into theemerging market space,” he says.

“EY’s decision to support the Africafirm with financial and human re-source capacity is a differentiating fac-tor that will ensure we meet the firm’sambitious growth targets over the nextseven years.”

African markets present uniquechallenges for investors. Firms invest-ing inward into SA, for example, mayhave to comply with legislation de-signed to address previous inequities.EY Africa is serious about broad-basedblack economic empowerment(BBBEE).

The firm was the first among the“big four” audit firms to reach over30% black ownership, and more than60% of its SA executive team is frompreviously disadvantaged groups. And27% of this executive team are women.

“EY is leading the charge in terms oft ra n s f o r m at i o n , ” says Palanee. “And weare arguably among the most trans-formed professional services firms con-ducting business across such a broadAfrican geography.”

EY already boasts a level 2 BEE

scorecard and is working aggressivelytowards complying with the empower-ment targets in the latest CA charter,which should result in it achieving a level1 status.

The firm’s own experience is that hu-man resources quickly reflect the de-mographics of the country it operates in.“To the extent that good talent is avail-able, we are aggressive in ensuring theyare part of our business,” he says.

EY’s Africa view is nicely encapsulatedin its annual Africa Attractiveness Sur-vey. The firm believes that it has aprimary responsibility to create a positiveimpression of Africa.

It achieves this through the survey aswell as by publishing thought leadershiparticles that are well received by globalorganisations and politicians.

“People are aware of the opportunitiesin Africa, but there is always a level ofscepticism,” says Palanee. “We will over-come this by showing the world anaccurate representation of the unpar-alleled opportunities that lie in Africa.”

An all-inclusive service offeringAs one of the large global professional

services firms, EY counts major multi-national firms, governments, state-ownedcompanies, entrepreneurs and NGOsamong its clients. Though the firm ac-knowledges the differing goals and ob-jectives of public versus private firms, ithas not lost sight of the need for anunflinching focus on quality service inbuilding a better working world.

“As a professional services firm wemust serve with objectivity and pro-fessional scepticism while maintainingopen and honest communication, regard-less of which sector our clients operatein,” says Palanee. He believes that thedistinction between public and corporatesectors hinges on the constituencies theyserve rather than the business they con-duc t.

“In the public sector our mandate is towork with governments on solving com-plex problems,” he says. “By bringingtogether diverse groups of leaders andconnecting them to their global peers,business leaders, think-tanks and leading

NGOs, we are building our globalbrand and contributing to change.”

He says EY clients demand morethan external audit services. Thisdemand is met through the firm’sspeciality practices that addressmany of the issues confrontingmodern businesses. These are issuessuch as fraud detection and pre-vention, the need for adoption andimplementation of sustainable busi-ness strategies and integrated re-por ting.

EY continuously invests in each ofits speciality practices such as cli-mate change & sustainability ser-vices, fraud investigation & disputeservices, financial accounting advi-sory services and accounting com-pliance & reporting. This evolvingfocus helps the firm to provide rel-evant assurance services worldwide.

A major change in the profes-sional services field is the awarenessthat firms are an integral part of theenvironment and community inwhich they operate. As a result,socially responsible investing (SRI)has become a buzzword in both thepublic and private sectors.

“EY has ambitions to be the mostdistinctive professional services firm

in the world,” says Palanee. “We want tobe renowned for excellence, innovationand being the most favoured employer —and this ambition extends beyond thefi r m ’s immediate clients and bottomline.”

He says EY is aware of the escalatingcomplexity of a globalised world and theincreasing role business must play insociety. The relationship between busi-ness and society is evolving as awarenessaround social challenges such as poverty,inequality, environmental pressures andlack of education manifest more acutely.

So, from EY’s perspective it is im-portant that the firm has a positive effectin society and is a force for social good.This it has to achieve not only throughthe products and services it offers, butalso in its engagement with people, socialpartnerships and the collaborations itbuilds to benefit society as a whole.

The recognition of Africa as the next

frontier of the emerging markets couldnot have come at a better time. There isan expectation that multinational firmsand large state-owned companies fromdominant African economies will providemore socioeconomic opportunities in therest of Africa over the next decade.

EY is ready to facilitate this investmentdrive into Africa by guiding its existingclients on the journey and signing up

new clients along the way. “There is acritical mass of companies already doingbusiness on the African continent thatare very positive about prospects here,”says Palanee.

“Many of these firms have been doingbusiness in Africa for decades — the yunderstand the risks and opportunities— and are investing for growth.”

To EY’s credit they are not simplyanalysing Africa from the sidelines, butare actively pursuing opportunitiesalongside their clients. The group is en-joying its 163rd year of doing business inAfrica and is backing its growth andintegration strategies on the continentwith new investments in infrastructureand capacity.

“Emerging markets are the futuregrowth markets,” he says. “Every growth-orientated company, no matter where theyare headquartered, knows this. We willcontinue to invest in these markets.” ■

Focus on et h i cs and complianceThe EY Risk Management team plays adual role as a support function to thefi r m ’s service lines and as a businessenabler. It is responsible for protectingEY from the associated risks that couldarise from offering professional servicesto clients throughout Africa.

“We provide co-ordinated advice andassistance on independence, conflicts,legal matters, regulatory and risk man-agement issues as well as handle claimsand queries of an ethical nature,” s ay sEY Africa risk management leader KokoK humalo.

Risk management is a critical func-tion in a firm that is exposed to somany unique country markets as EY is.“Each of these markets operates underdifferent economic, domestic and reg-ulatory policies,” she says.

In its oversight of EY Africa op-erations, the risk team monitors keyprocesses to manage the threat of lit-igation, avoid regulatory enforcementand limit damage to EY’s reputationthrough the uniform and consistent ap-plication of global policies and systems.

She says her team’s tools and processes

are designed to help meet complianceresponsibilities and support client-facingteams in delivering quality service.

Emerging market dynamics place

more demands on risk management.“Regulatory oversight is often not whatit should be and it can be difficult tofind appropriate senior level resourcesin some of our developing markets,” shesays. “We have to invest more time andresources to implement our policies andprocesses in these markets.”

A disciplined approach to risk is es-sential whether the service lines operatein developed or developing markets.And both regulators and clients expecttheir professional services firm to de-liver quality services regardless.

The refocused risk management teamwill derive an edge over EY’s Africacompetitors, thanks to its functions be-ing integrated. It facilitates the achieve-ment of Vision 2020 objectives througha simplified model whereby risk man-agement resources are empowered todeliver and execute locally.

The bottom line is that EY Africa’slocal resources will be closer to theenvironmental culture and regulatoryexpectations in each market, allowingthe team to deliver exceptional clientservice seamlessly. ■

Koko Khumalo


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EY is enjoying 163years of doingbusiness in Africaand backing itsgrowth with newi nvest m e ntsSu g a n

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market or service line,” s ay sOates. “But all acquisitions aresubject to a strong cultural fitwith EY.”

The most recent EY acquisitionwas that of Resolve, the second-largest human capital consultancyin SA. The acquisition bringsvalue and quality to EY and theResolve staff integration into theEY culture and business has beenseamless.

Growth features high on the listof Vision 2020 goals and objec-tives for the EY advisory unit.“There is huge interest in Africaas an emerging market and thesheer volume of companies in-vesting into the continent pro-vides a fantastic opportunity for abusiness like ours to double andredouble,” Oates says.

“To be successful in Africa re-quires focus and a longer-term

view. That is why we are clear on themarkets and sectors we choose and,within those sectors, about the accountsand solutions we offer.

“Large organisations must avoid themistake of simply redeploying products,services or solutions from the developedworld (North America or Europe) intoemerging markets on the assumptionthat they are fit for purpose.”

To succeed in Africa these multina-tionals need to customise their offeringsfor the emerging market and then makeallowance for regional subsets within theAfrica market. “One of the critical goalsand objectives introduced in Vision 2020is for us to be relevant to our clients,” hesays. “So we must accept that markets inWest Africa are not the same as those inthe South or East.”

Aside from people and services, Oatesbelieves that the EY brand is one of thecritical success factors for building aunified business across the continent:“People buy the brand before they buyindividuals.”

Much of the Africa advisory revenue isgenerated through services that dependheavily on the brand. “It takes a longtime to establish a brand,” he says. “EY isthe dominant player in terms of anintegrated business in the African mar-ket, and we are well on our way toconsolidating and strengthening ourbrand across the region.” ■

knowledge that such initiatives may leadto increased bureaucracy. But the re-sulting cost pressures will be offset byincreased competitiveness and improved

investor confidence.Another challenge high on the

list of professional services firmsdoing business in Africa is theavailability of specialist skills. EYaddresses the skills issues from anumber of angles. The first is torealise that both EY Global and EYAfrica have abundant pools of tal-ent to draw from.

“The fact that we are an inte-grated firm means that our talentspans multiple countries — inAfrica we have 33 to choose from,”says Tomlinson. EY can move re-sources from one country to an-other to accommodate the cyclicalnature of the audit business as wellas match the best available ex-pertise to on-the-ground specialistskills requirements.

He says the firm goes to greatlengths to create a legacy whenmoving skills across borders: “Wedo not simply parachute skills inand out of countries without en-suring that we partner the per-manent resource in that country toincrease knowledge and achieveskills transference.”

Fresh blood is essential to keepahead of the competition in the

skills game. Since 60% of Africa as-s u ra n c e ’s employees are studying towardsone accounting qualification or another,the division devotes a great deal of timeand resources to graduate recruitment.

“It is critical that we communicate aclear value proposition to prospectiveemployees,” says Tomlinson. “EY and theother large audit firms have done anexcellent job in building their respectivebrands and the market is willing to pay apremium for a ‘large firm’ g ra d u at e .These graduates possess a solid skills setand become valuable assets to whicheverfirm they end up at.” ■

It is almost impossible to describethe typical EY client. As an auditinggiant it transacts with start-ups (thathave ambitious growth targets) orestablished multinationals with ex-tensive global footprints. It interactswith both private and public en-terprises, small or large, across mul-tiple industries and geographies.

“The common glue that binds allof our clients is the need for aservice provider that will partnertheir businesses for the long run,”says EY Africa assurance leaderLance Tomlinson. “EY is a partner ofchoice, thanks to our unparalleledglobal integration, our significant in-vestment in specific industries and aculture of always doing the rightthing.”

Audit services remain the corner-stone of the assurance service line.However, the division has noticedincreasing demand for financial ac-counting advisory services as well asforensics and accounting complianceand reporting services, among others.

EY’s competitive advantage on thecontinent started with its desire tobecome an integrated Africa prac-tice. To date it has succeeded wheremany of its rivals have failed.

“EY is a single global firm with anAfrica practice. The structure introducesa host of advantages by removing ge-ographic borders. Country practicesacross Africa work closely together andensure that clients benefit from a singlepoint of contact that is empowered tomake decisions regardless of location.”

Tomlinson says expanding acrossAfrica adds new dimensions to alreadycomplex businesses. “What our clientsare looking for are partners that can helpthem navigate through this complexity,”he says. “They have also made it clear,whether they operate in Kinshasa orJohannesburg, that they expect the samehigh level of skills and service.”

An integrated Africa practice makesthis level of commitment possible. Itallows EY service line executives to al-locate the best available skills to projects,implement fee sharing arrangements and

create centres of excellence across thecontinent.

Mobility and flexibility are two at-tributes that prove invaluable in com-bating the challenges that auditing firmsface in emerging markets. “One of theoverarching challenges for the auditingindustry is to improve the competitive-ness of Africa and to build confidence inthe region’s capital markets,” he says.

EY Africa assurance believes thatcountry regulators will have to adopt bestglobal practices and rigorously enforcethem to ensure African economies climbthe competitiveness ladder. They ac-

is represented in all of its Africa marketsthrough a hub-and-spoke model, whereinoutlying markets are serviced from cen-tres of excellence that are established inmajor cities.

Over the next seven years EY advisoryservices is likely to grow its influence inAfrica through a 50/50 mix of acqui-sition and organic growth, including ex-panding its product, service and solutionofferings. “We typically turn to acqui-sitions to fill a void in a particular

Lance Tomlinson

A DV I SO RY

Sights on growthThe EY Africa advisory service linehelps and supports large organisationsand governments to improve their busi-ness performance in a sustainable way.

“From an Africa firm perspective weassist both private- and public-sector en-tities to improve their businesses, whileintegrating their activities across the con-tinent,” says EY Africa advisory leaderViv Oates.

“We leverage our strong technology,performance improvement and risk ca-pabilities to help these firms deal withthe business complexities and differentregulatory environments across the con-tinent.”

According to the Gartner MarketShare: IT Services, 2012 report: “Gar tner,Inc has ranked Ernst & Young as thesub-Saharan Africa revenue and marketshare leader for consulting, based onrevenues for calendar year 2012.”

“Our integrated Africa approach meansour clients will get the same quality andthe same solutions wherever they operatein Africa,” he says. “Clients not onlybenefit from a consistency of service,methodology and approach, but also froma single point of contact Africa-wide.”

The firm’s Africa advisory service line

Viv Oates

ASS U RA N C E

A streamlined practice


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EY ’s competitive advantage on thecontinent started with its desire tobecome an integrated Africa practice

“There is hugeinterest in Africa. . . and the volumeof companiesinvesting into thecontinent providesa fantasticoppor tunity”

— VIV OATES



practice globally. This enables the globalfirm to seamlessly deploy its resources toany project in the world.

The TAS Africa capital agenda com-prises four elements: assisting clients inraising capital; investing capital; opti-mising capital funding structures; andpreserving capital. “In Africa we playprimarily in the first three elements,”says Hlophe.

“Capital preservation is more relevantto mature markets in the US and Europewhere there is currently a great deal ofdistressed capital.”

Africa’s emerging market status meansthat there is significant investment cap-ital looking for opportunities on the con-tinent. For example, in its 2013 AfricaAttractiveness Survey, EY reports a 5,6%increase in greenfields foreign direct in-vestment into Africa.

The survey also reveals huge interestfrom private equity investors that singleout Africa for its market-beating returnprospects. Over the past five years privateequity has invested a staggeringUS$12bn into Africa, with another $10bnraised for future investment in the re-gion. Also, a number of private equityfirms are currently raising more fundswith a target of $500m or more forinvestment in sub-Saharan Africa.

“TAS Africa is active in the originationof investment opportunities acrossAfrica, primarily for private equity firmsand what we refer to as strategic tradebuyers,” says Hlophe. “The latter arelarge corporates — mainly operating outof SA, Europe and the US — that want to

The African continent has emerged asone of the most intriguing “frontier”markets for multinational companies, of-ten mentioned in the same breath asindividual countries in Asia and CentralAmerica.

Yet from both a markets and tax per-spective, the continent is very diverse. Andfirms that want to either enter into orexpand in one or more of its 55 countriesface tremendous challenges to fully un-derstand the business environment, shift-ing tax laws and the ways in which thoselaws are administered and applied.

EY Africa tax leader James Deiottesays professional service firms that take acomprehensive approach to understand-ing the intricacies of African markets arein a better position to serve their globalclients. Many of these clients lack knowl-edgeable resources in the region to keeptrack of the vast array of tax changes anddifferences in approach.

“Having a single, integrated Africapractice is essential in responding to ourclients’ needs,” Deiotte says. “This strategyrequires that our partners know and trusteach other and work together in a waythat complements each other’s knowledgeand experience in order to provide thebest advice to clients at all times.”

For all the differences in taxes betweenAfrican nations, Deiotte says there areefforts to bring into law tax principlesthat are fundamentally similar. “We see alot of similarities in approaches to tax-ation between one African economy and

James Deiotte

CAPITAL AGENDA

An eye on healthy investments

Sa n d i l eHlophe

“The resolution of complex tax matters,particularly for multinationals, causesheadaches because how the law is ap-plied and administered is often unclearbecause countries are at different stagesin their development,” he says. “T hat

Transaction Advisory Services ( TA S )is commonly referred to as corporatefinance. EY has adopted the TASacronym because it focuses on trans-action and advisory services that assistclients in addressing their capital agendaneeds.

Capital Agenda services assists clientswith structured finance, transaction dili-gence, infrastructure transaction advi-sory, mergers & acquisitions, valuationsand business modelling.

“Our focus on the Capital Agenda iswhat distinguishes TAS Africa from ourcompe titors,” says EY Africa transactionadvisory leader Sandile Hlophe.

“The Capital Agenda ensures a con-sistent go-to-market approach with re-gards to transactions advice as well asconsistency around the delivery of theservices in a uniform format.”

Another plus is that the service lineoperates as a single transaction advisory

TA X AT I O N

Addressing uncertainty and unseen riskstries, provide an opportunity for in-creased new investment and create jobs.On the flip side, these countries aresearching for additional tax revenues tosupport their increasing infrastructuralneeds and meet social demands.”

He describes the best way to addressthis issue as being to offer tax services ina multidisciplinary fashion. “EY deploysexperienced leaders who are specialists inpolicy and have a fundamental under-standing of income taxes and indirecttaxes across the region. In addition, the

firm brings in practitioners from theassurance, advisory and transaction busi-nesses to comprehensively meet theneeds of its clients whenever and wher-ever they do business in Africa.”

The EY Africa tax division has grownsignificantly with increased investmentsand job creation across Africa. The prac-tice is growing and comprises more than700 tax professionals across sub-SaharanAfrica. The practice works closely withSA and African universities to educateand encourage students and graduates to

get into the tax profession.Deiotte, who was named to lead the

African tax practice in 2012, says he’sworking hard to apply EY’s objective ofbuilding a better working world to thefrontier markets on the continent.

That objective is part of an internalmarket-focused EY transformation calledVision 2020. Through it all EY employeesare trained to better understand theirclients’ business sectors and needs in or-der to provide exceptional service andbecome better trusted business advisors. ■

In the past fiveyears privateequity hasinvested US$12bninto Africa, withanother $10bnraised for futurei nvest m e nt


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In developing markets processes andtechnology affect the administration ofthe tax system. Managing these is one ofthe top concerns for tax professionals

the next, including levels of corporate taxapplied. The African Tax AdministrationForum is active in trying to drive througha new level of consistency in areas suchas transfer pricing.”

He says key differences in tax law fromone country to the next are not the onlyrisks for business. In developing marketsboth processes and technology affect theadministration of the tax system. Man-aging these uncertainties is one of thetop concerns for tax professionals andtheir clients across the region.

presents huge risks to our clients.”EY Africa tax offers a full range of tax

services to these clients across the region.In addition to supporting clients’ taxcompliance, reporting and controversyneeds, the integrated approach to plan-ning supports clients across a number ofdifferent industries.

“For example, one of our key tax ser-vices that we provide our clients focuseson tax risks and savings around con-templated changes to a company’s supplychain,” Deiotte says. “Our approach bringsin the experience and support of ouradvisory partners who team up with taxspecialists and look at tax consequencesaround changes to a supply chain.

“By looking at how companies operatein Africa and helping them to optimisetheir performance and improving earn-ings, companies are left with more cap-ital to fund further investment and jobcreation on the continent.”

Africa’s complex tax environment in-creases the possibility of controversywhen dealing with taxing authorities andregulatory agencies. So EY works closelywith government and taxpayers.

Tax advisory services also have to nav-igate ambiguities in the application oftaxation policies throughout Africa. “Ta x -ing authorities are trying to ensure thattheir legislation shows to the world thatthey are an inviting place to do business,”says Deiotte. “On the one hand, they aretrying to attract business to their coun-



CENTRAL AFRICA

Capitalising on vital similaritiesEY ’s success on the African continentcan be attributed to its integrated Africapractice, which achieves consistencyacross country markets while acknowl-edging the cultural and operational dif-ferences in its five sub-Saharan operatingregions.

The geographical split of the fiveAfrican regions — Southern, East, West,Central and Francophone — is designedaround similarities in economic activity,culture and, to a lesser extent, language.EY has also created common trainingand developmental platforms that arerolled out and attended by people fromacross Africa to help them get a betterunderstanding of their clients and com-munities across the continent.

“We use a consistent methodology andapply the same business ethos,” says EYCentral Africa regional leader WalterMu p a n g u r i .

“Our mobility programme allows us tomove our people across the continent.

Wa l te rM u pa n g u r i

in most of the Africa markets EY isactive in. But infrastructure develop-ments, particularly in the utilities space,are proving popular too.

Mupanguri singles out the Zambianpublic sector as extremely active at pre-sent and mentions that the country at-tracts more than its share of foreigninves tment.

The Zambian government’s specific in-vestment incentives (which in some casesprovide for zero corporate tax for anumber of years), currency stability,peaceful political transition and generallystable economic policies have been anengine for growth. The country has alsojust gone through a currency rebasing

expand into Africa through acquisition.“A number of Africa-based firms are

giving us mandates to find investmentsspecifically for them. And we strive to be

exercise through the scrapping of threezeros on the currency.

However, the real aggregate economicvalue is not yet apparent in the im-mediate aftermath. There may be someminor inflationary effect on the value ofgoods and services. Overall, from a busi-ness perspective, there is now more for-eign currency available to facilitate re-gional and international trade.

Zimbabwe also has potential forgrowth because it has an effective com-munication network and developed in-frastructure. Gold, platinum and dia-mond mining activities have grown inpopularity despite the country’s lengthypolitical impasse.

The EY Vision 2020 strategy and thenew brand launch are a perfect op-portunity for the Central Africa region tomarket the firm. “We are putting sig-nificant efforts into our brand activitiesas we position ourselves for Vision 2020,”says Mupanguri.

“Central Africa is focusing on seamlessdelivery across its countries and servicelines as well as market visibility andsignificant investment in its people toachieve best brand status by 2020.”

Mupanguri anticipates that significantforeign direct investment and donorfunding will create myriad opportunitiesfor the firm. He is also confident that theregion can stimulate growth elsewhere inAfrica through the secondment of staff.Zimbabwe, in particular, has excellentskills available for redeployment.

These skills will prove invaluable asdemand for assurance services skyrock-ets. “Listed companies and financial in-stitutions are required by law to submitaudited financial statements,” he says.“And companies are increasingly seekingaudit services to comply with good cor-porate governance requirements.”

Additional assurance demand stemsfrom the fact that African companieshoping to win a share of foreign investorcapital need audited financial statementsto satisfy their backers.

The EY Central Africa region also ex-pects the demand for advisory services tocontinue on an upward trend as theWorld Bank, IMF and other donor in-stitutions inject capital into the region,especially in Zambia.

Legal compliance is singled out as amajor challenge in the Central Africaregion, with major differences from onecountry to the next. “We experience dif-ficulties with work permits as well assign-off requirements for reporting pur-poses,” says Mupanguri.

“The region also faces logistical chal-lenges, especially around the convenienceof air travel between its componentcountries.” For instance, there are onlythree flights per week between Zim-babwe and Malawi.

However, there is no challenge that isinsurmountable. As such, EY’s CentralAfrica region is ready to deploy its flex-ible and mobile workforce to build on thec o m p a ny ’s leading position as the mostintegrated professional services firmacross Africa. ■

With significant investor interest in themining sector and infrastructuredevelopments, Zambia has the mostpotential for growth


the trusted originator of investment op-portunities throughout Africa for bothprivate equity and strategic trade buyers.”

Africa could make up ground on other

emerging markets in the coming years,thanks to its favourable investment riskreturn rating relative to developedeconomies. Two things count in Africa’sfavour: its investment risk return profileis similar to that of other emergingmarket economies such as Brazil andIndia and emerging market investmentrisk return is currently higher than thatof mature markets.

“We do not see a higher risk in in-vesting in Africa,” says Hlophe. “If any-thing, Africa provides investors with ahigher rate of return per unit of in-vestment risk. As a result there is a morebullish approach to investing in Africathan in the past.”

This is great news for a firm thatunderstands the African market. EY hashad an on-the-ground presence in Africafor more than 160 years and understandsits 33 Africa markets better than most.

Against this backdrop the future forTAS Africa is very promising. EY Globalexpects the service line to double itscontribution to group revenue over thenext seven years as part of its ambitiousVision 2020 growth strategy. ■

Identifying opportunities EY ’s 2013 Strategic Growth Forum paneldiscussion on investing in Africa

Meanwhile, the optimum use of re-sources, sharing of specialist skills andknowledge transfer across our people of-fers major competitive advantages.”

The EY Africa practice is led by oneexecutive team that guides each regionalAfrican market towards consistent strate-gic goals and enables seamless serviceline delivery across the countries.

Mupanguri is responsible for the com-p a ny ’s business activities in the centralAfrica region, which comprises Zim-babwe, Zambia and Malawi. He saysZimbabwe contributes the bulk of theregion’s revenues, with smaller but al-most equal contributions from the lattereconomies.

“Zambia has the most potential forgrowth in the central region,” he says,pointing to significant investor interest inthe mining sector as well as governmentand infrastructure activities in that coun-try. Mining and exploration still accountsfor significant inward capital investments

THE FOOTPRINT

SOURCE: EY

EY presence across the continent

Côte d’Ivoire

Chad

Kenya

Rwanda

Burundi Tanzania

Malawi

Mauritius

Madagascar

ReunionBotswana

Zimbabwe

ZambiaAngola

Sierra Leone

Liberia

Guinea

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Cameroon

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Guinea

Togo

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Benin

Nigeria

Mauritania Mali

Burkina

Faso

Niger

Egypt

Eritrea

Djibouti

Ethiopia

Uganda

Central African

Republic

Democratic

Republic of

Congo

Comoros

Somalia

Seychelles

Sudan

South

Sudan

Algeria

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occo

Tunisia

Libya

Congo

EY office

No EY office but

support available

Gabon

Sao Tome

Lesotho

Namibia

South

Africa

Swaziland

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Mozabique



Africa is now increasingly becomingan investment destination of choice.West Africa, in particular, has in re-cent times been transformed into adestination for investment and it issoaring.

With offices in Nigeria and Ghana,EY flies out resources from these mar-kets to work on engagements in othercountries, notably Sierra Leone andLiberia.

“N i ge r i a ’s economy is growingrapidly and presents investment op-portunities across sectors and indus-tries, while multinational oil and gasexploration outfits are eyeing Ghanawith renewed interest,” says EY WestAfrica regional leader Henry Egbiki.“EY is investing heavily in humanresources capacity to participate fullyas investors enter these African mar-ke ts.”

He reports high year-on-yeargrowth from both Nigeria and Ghanaand expects these economies to makeincreasing contributions to the firmover the coming years. Growth hascome from across the service lines.The assurance service line has benefitedfrom reforms in the banking sector, in-cluding IFRS and rotation of bank au-ditors.

The EY West Africa re-gion has an edge over otherprofessional firms in itsmarkets, thanks to excep-tional client service. “Wepromise our clients seam-less, consistent and high-quality service — and wed e l i v e r, ” Egbiki says. “T hisis the only way to achieveenduring market leadershipin Africa markets.”

Integration is one of thebuzzwords used across EY.“We offer an integratedclient engagement, irre-spective of location, by de-ploying multinational andmulticultural teams with asingle focus — to exceedclient expectations.”

EY’s global integration

Africa practice with one governancestructure, one leadership, one man-agement and — most importantly —one investment and reward pool.

“The result is unity,” says Egbiki. “EYpartners and people share a collectivedestiny which ensures their efforts arefocused along similar lines.

“As you reflect on this structure, thepower in an integrated Africa practiceand how it differentiates EY from otherplayers on the continent becomes clear.It enables us to break down geographicbarriers, improve market penetration

and transfer knowledge.”The integrated Africa practice ap-

proach is critical to creating highest per-forming teams that deliver the highest

strategy, welcomed by its multinationalaccounts, has an even greater effect inAfrica. The firm operates in 33 countriesacross the continent as an integrated

triation of profits is difficult.The bulk of the East region’s revenues

are derived from traditional assuranceand tax service lines. “We expect to dobrisk trade in these service lines, thanksto various statutory requirements acrossthe region,” says Gachahi. “I am, how-ever, confident that the real differentiatorfor our business in the region will comefrom greater investment in the advisoryservices space.”

EY is already benefiting from a surgein business due to major reform ini-tiatives in countries across the region.“Performance contracts have been in-troduced in the public sector in Kenya,which remains the regional powerhouse,”he says.

“We have also noticed an increasedfocus on infrastructure development, in-cluding information technology.”

As governments restructure their pub-lic institutions to increase efficiency, de-mand for EY advisory services has in-creased dramatically. It is also likely thatK e ny a ’s decision to implement a newdevolved system of government will gen-erate more work in this area.

The EY Africa firm has a competitiveedge in tax in East Africa and is strong inthe assurance business too. The groupwill invest heavily in transaction advisoryservices and advisory service lines toensure it builds on and maintains thisa d va n t a ge .

“What differentiates EY from the com-petition in East Africa is our integratedglobalised business model, our great peo-ple culture that is significantly enhancedsince the ‘Our EY’ initiative, our supportfor entrepreneurship and the Africa in-vestment plan,” says Gachahi.

“Integration is about unity, not uni-formity; it is about finding synergy indifference, goal congruence and a meet-ing of minds; it is about ‘we’ and not ‘I’;and it is about our promise to clients tooffer them seamless, high-quality servicewherever we are located.

“I fully support the idea of staff mo-bility, which I believe greatly enhancesthe ability of our people to work int o d ay ’s multicultural global village. Weare moving people across Africa and theEmeia (Europe, Middle East, India &Africa) region.

“This is a very exciting time for thefirm, our people, clients and commu-nities.” ■

WEST AFRICA

A strong focus on skills transfer“Skilled humanresources areamong thecritical successfactors for ourb u s i n ess ”

— HENRY EGBIKI

EAST AFRICA

All geared up to deliver


Restructure boost Government moves to increase efficiency in countriessuch as Kenya are creating demand for EY advisory services

Though there are more than 50 coun-tries on the African continent, EY prefersto focus on consolidation and organicgrowth within its 33 Africa markets.

Under this scenario the EY East regionis focused on Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania,Rwanda, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

When asked which of these countrypractices offers the greatest opportunityfor growth, EY East Africa regionalleader Gitahi Gachahi says the risks andrewards across the region are similar. Butsome markets present greater challengesthan others. “South Sudan, the mostrecent addition to the East region, hashuge infrastructure and human capacitycons traints,” he says.

“Housing is a huge problem and rentsare astronomical. So we do what we canto recruit Sudanese from the Africa di-aspora and post them to the country.”

Ethiopia is also singled out for itsunique challenges. Though the countryboasts a population of more than 80m —and is one of the fastest growingeconomies in Africa — it is still not avery open economy. Mobile phone tech-nology is not as advanced in Ethiopia asin other African countries, its financialsector is poorly developed and the repa-

G i ta h iGachahi

Renewed interest The growth of Nigeria’s economyis presenting good investment opportunities


1 8 F I N A N C I A L M A I L A U G U S T 3 0 , 2 0 1 3

Côte d’Ivoire, Congo and Cameroondominate the EY Francophone Africaregion, which comprises mainly French-speaking countries and also includesSenegal, Guinea, Chad, EquatorialGuinea, the Democratic Republic ofCongo (DRC) and Gabon.

The professional services firm’s hub-and-spoke operational methodology en-sures that neighbouring countries benefitfrom group services too, with BurkinaFaso, Niger, Togo and Benin serviced outof Côte d’Ivoire; Mauritania, Gambiaand Mali out of Senegal; and theCentral African Republic fromCameroon.

The decision to distinguish the fiveAfrica regions (Southern, East, West,Central and Francophone) in EYensures a co-ordinated approach tothe market. It makes sense, forexample, to group practices basedon country proximity, language,trade relations, culture and typeof business. A regional focus alsofacilitates the distribution of peo-ple and skills to clients bothwithin and on the fringes of aparticular region.

“We have more than 500 peoplein the Francophone region and

cover a full range of assurance, tax,transaction and advisory services,”

says Francophone Africa leader Jean-Francois Albrecht.

He believes that all of the EY servicelines are in demand among its Franco-phone Africa clients. “Tax is particularly

sought after as our legal environmentsare complex — justice, customs and taxadministration are difficult to deal within most of the Francophone countries,”he says. “Both local and multinationalcompanies need increasing support inthese areas.”

The EY regional leaders — thanks torelationships established at regular meet-ings — can mobilise resources for clientsin any region with a simple e-mail ortelephone call. This close working ar-rangement also ensures that similar qual-ity services are delivered wherever thefirm operates. These positive attributesstem directly from the group’s integratedAfrica practice methodology.

Albrecht says that the strong EY brandhelps to maintain and develop businessin the region as well as build confidenceamong clients. “The brand has been verypowerful in our opening in Cameroonand the DRC,” he says. “People on theground came to us to enter into re-lationships and business with us just onthe strength of the brand. In addition,our purpose and brand statement of‘building a better working world’ is ex-ceptionally appealing to this market.”

The Francophone region has stronggrowth prospects. Cameroon is expectedto contribute as much revenue as Côted’Ivoire within two years — with botheconomies likely to dominate the regionover the next decade. The DRC haspotential too as its mining and bankingsectors attract serious inward investment.It will probably emerge as the third-largest contributor to EY revenue in theFrancophone Africa region over time. ■

Corporate Report written by Gareth StokesAdvertising executive: Kay Naidoo

FRANCOPHONE AFRICA

Bridging the service gap

J ea n - Fra n co i sA l b re c ht

quality service to EY’s multinationalclients across Africa. As an example ofthe integrated Africa practice in action,EY Africa advisory leader Viv Oates re-cently relocated to Lagos, Nigeria, fromwhere he will oversee the Africa advisorybusiness. The power in integration re-flects in his ability to assemble accountteams from EY practices across the globe— including in the UK, India, TheNetherlands, SA and other Africa mar-ke ts.

“We are a people organisation and aknowledge driven business,” says Egbiki.

CORPORATE REPORT EY AFRICA“Consequently, skilled human resourcesare among the critical success factors forour business.”

He points out that the availability ofsenior level resources in the region willremain a challenge given the region’saggressive five-year growth targets. Thisshortage is offset slightly by the bleakeconomic situation in Europe and theUS, where there is pressure on many ofthe skilled Africa diaspora to come backhome.

“We have been able to attract a num-ber of such candidates who bring a

significant amount of global experienceback to the Africa firm,” he says.

“Additionally, EY will continue to in-vest in both inbound and outbound mo-bility for the training and development ofits people. We will continue to recruit thebest and brightest graduates from uni-versities in West Africa and abroad. Inaddition, we will invest in their trainingand development to ensure we have avery strong pipeline of skilled resourcesat junior, middle, senior and executivelevels to meet the demands of our growthtargets in the coming years.” ■


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When business works better the world works better

The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in local and global markets. In so doing we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, our clients and our communities.

ey.com/betterworkingworld

@EY_Africa


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Having lots of dots on the map doesn’t mean anything if they’re not connectedIn today’s world, where you are should never get in the way of where you need to be. We have the highest performing teams wherever you need them.

By drawing upon our learning, experience and knowledge garnered over our 163 years in Africa we help other companies navigate the opportunities and challenges of doing business across the Continent. We do this through the Africa Business Center™.

Documents

Financial Mail Page 1 -22/08/2013 12:00:21 PM by introducing a new brand name,” says EY Africa CEO Ajen Sita. “Ernst & Young was reborn as EY, a cleaner, clearer and more modern