Leveraging on the fourth industrial revolution by African accountants in the sustenance of SDGs and AU Agenda 2063

Abstract

The research sought to assess the use of 4IR technologies by the accountancy profession in Africa in the sustenance of SDGs and AU Agenda 2063. The investigation adopted a pragmatic approach, associated with mixed‐methodological approach. The target population for the study was 114,800 Professional Accountancy Organisations (PAOs) members from all 44 countries in Africa who were members of the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA). Online questionnaires and telephone interviews were administered to gather data. A total of 267 responses were received out of 114,800 members representing 0.23% of the population. Forty‐eight accountants were interviewed by telephone using the snowball sampling technique. Quantitative data gathered from online questionnaires was analysed using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 and ATLAS.ti 9 was used to analyse responses from interviews. The study showed that accountants in Africa had heard about 4IR technologies, with the Internet of Things (IoT) mostly used and known by accountants. The study established that 4IR technologies improved the standard of living, reduced social marginalisation, eased manual work, improved agricultural productivity, reduced environmental pollution, improved health services, financial inclusion and knowledge sharing. These benefits are critical for achieving SDGs and the African Agenda 2063. Accountants are recommended to continuously train and retrain on new and trending technologies like computerised audits, big data analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, robotics, bitcoin and its risks in the monetary systems, cyber security in the 4IR era, cloud computing and information management systems to sustain SDGs and AU Agenda 2063.