neoaccounting

Economic recovery in Zimbabwe is still likely to be difficult even though Robert Mugabe has resigned as president, a research fellow at the Overseas Development Institute has told  Public Finance International .  Mugabe resigned by letter yesterday after 37 years in power following pressure from the public, the army and his party for him to step down.  The resignation came amid turmoil in the country since the military took over last week in an attempt to root out “criminals” around the president and detained him and the finance minister Ignatius Chombo.  The former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was sacked by Mugabe two weeks ago and fled to South Africa, is expected to return to Zimbabwe and be sworn in as the next president on Friday, according to the country’s state broadcaster.   Judith Tyson, research fellow at the ODI’s international economic development group, said: “There is obviously great optimism for change in Zim...

By: Simone Rensch 14 Nov 17 The African Development Bank has approved a €71.56m loan to strengthen Tunisia’s public services through digitalisation.  The loan will support the implementation of the country’s national ‘Digital Tunisia 2020’ plan, which will digitalise public services such as online administration services, sectoral information services, a digital ID system and a data exchange platform.  The  Tunisian  government is contributing €63.4m, bringing the total cost of the project to €134.96m. Samatar Omar Elmi, the task manager for the project at AfDB, said: “The project really illustrates how the adoption of new technologies can enhance public services delivery, improving the government’s dialogue with citizens while fostering the development of the local digital environment.” The AfDB said the project could have “great potential” for the economy. “It provides for substantial support to trigger a strong a performing...

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince is leading a crack-down on corruption, which has led to the arrest of dozens of royal figures, ministers and businessmen.  The country’s newly formed anti-corruption committee ordered the detention of 11 princes, four ministers and dozens of ex-ministers and businessmen, according to Saudi media.   Attorney general Sheikh Saud Al Mojeb said the arrests were “merely the start of a vital process to root out corruption wherever it exists”.  The order also detailed the detention of the minister of the national guard prince Miteb bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and minister of economy and planning Adel bin Mohammed Faqih.  One of Saudi’s most prominent tycoons, businessman prince Alwaleed bin Talal, was also arrested.  The committee will investigate public corruption and aims to improve the investment climate in the kingdom and enhance confidence in the legal system. It is the latest move of the country to improve economic per...

IMF is “too gloomy” in its economic outlook for sub-Saharan Africa, an economist at the Overseas Development Institute has said.  The IMF noted in its report on  sub-Saharan Africa  last week that vulnerabilities have increased in the region, partly due to rising public debt, financial sector strains and low external buffers.  But the report did not fully account for the recent improvements in commodity prices and is “too pessimistic”, Judith Tyson from the ODI said.  “For example, oil prices have now recovered to over $60 a barrel, from 2016 lows of $27 a barrel. This has given a boost to oil producers such as Nigeria and Angola,” she said.  The IMF said the policy environment had started to improve, fiscal deficits were stabilising and current account deficits narrowing, reflecting a “slight rebound” in commodity prices. Tyson said: “The report’s forecast is too pessimistic but these positive developments actually present a key ...

How do professional accountants respond to the growing demand for assurance on non-financial information (NFI)? Accountancy Europe‘s  latest publication  sets out the context for NFI reporting and assurance and discusses the role of the accountancy profession. It provides six key steps for professional accountants to conduct an NFI assurance engagement and ask for experts’ input on the challenges faced in practice. NFI Reporting Journey Across the globe, companies increasingly report on NFI. Companies’ stakeholders, such as investors and clients, increasingly seek such information for their decision making. In Europe, reporting on environmental, social, and governance matters has recently taken a major step forward with the publication of the European Directive 2014/95/EU on non-financial and diversity information. Approximately 6,000 companies are now required to report NFI under the Directive from 2017 on. These companies shall disclose information on, at a minim...

Since its birth in Porto Alegre, participatory budgeting, that is, the process through which citizens are actively involved in allocating a portion of budgetary resources, has attracted increased attention worldwide. It has been heralded as a possible answer to the current public finances crisis, the shortfall in public administration legitimacy, the loss of trust in representative democracies, and the need to foster local development and growth. But under which conditions can participatory budgeting work? What do citizens want when participating in budgeting decisions? According to a recent review of public budgeting, more needs to be uncovered and understood about participatory budgeting, and what citizens expect. The process remains largely unexplored. We recently investigated how Italian citizens perceive participatory budgeting and the way in which it is implemented. We found four typologies of citizens being involved in participatory budgeting. First is the supporter i...

It is no small secret that accounting is the midst of a radical transformation and evolution. Forces include, but certainly are not limited to, globalization, digitization, and a growing amount of technological integration into business operations continue to have ramifications for the industry and accountants. Additionally, regulatory and reporting updates related to accounting for pensions, revenue recognition, accounting for leases, and convergence of national GAAP and IFRS, especially in the US, continue to create opportunities for disruption and change in accounting. Even against this backdrop of radical, and continuous, change there are two forces standing out as potential game changers for accounting in the US and internationally. Blockchain technology, although most well-known for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, is forecasted to have wide-ranging implications for how data is secured, transmitted, and protected. In addition, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), and...