A Nigerian, Mr Joseph Owolabi has made history as the first African to be elected the global Deputy President of an international accounting body, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
Owolabi was elected by the global Council of professional accountancy Association to the exalted position recently at ACCA’s virtual Annual Council Meeting.
A statement on his election says : “Joseph will continue on the Officer team, which also consists of the President – Orla Collins and Vice President – Ronnie Patton. This is the first time a black person or someone of African descent is appointed as ACCA’s Deputy President.”
Prior to his new position, he was the first black person to occupy the position of Vice President of the global body in 2020.
Owolabi, a passionate advocate of ACCA and the accounting profession at large, is the Chief Executive Officer of Rubicola Consulting – with offices in Nigeria and Australia. He has served on the Global Council for five years and two years combined as International Assembly delegate for Nigeria and Panel member in Australia and New Zealand.
Born in Lagos, the trained medical scientist from the University of Lagos also holds a Master of Art degree in Leading Innovation and Change from the York St John University in the United Kingdom.
The business consulting expert is an alumnus of The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School. After a stint at Zenith Bank Plc where he qualified as a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), he joined PwC Nigeria where he focused on Cybersecurity advisory and Risk Consulting. He qualified as a chartered accountant while at the firm. Prior to establishing Rubicola Consulting, he worked in member firms across the Big Four firms in Africa and Australia. His last role was a Director at Deloitte Asia Pacific.
Some of his significant contributions to the accounting profession include pioneering the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) and non-financial reporting (sustainability and integrated reporting) across Africa and globally. As founding leader of EY West Africa’s Climate Change and Sustainability Services, he assisted with the issuance of the Sovereign Green Bond, first from an emerging market, by the Federal government of Nigeria in 2017.
ACCA is the global professional accounting body with over 230,000 members and about 500,000 future members based in 176 countries. Established in 1904, ACCA offers everyone the opportunity to experience a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.
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