Accounting students: Win a chance to network with SA's top business leaders

"If there is one thing SAICA recognises it is that our economy needs leadership. As the custodian of a professional designation ranked No.1 in the world by the World Economic Forum for auditing and reporting – a designation whose very essence is based on trust and responsibility – we at SAICA believe that it is our duty to build our nation by actively developing the traits of a responsible leader at university level by instilling the values of responsible leadership in all those studying towards becoming a chartered accountant [CA(SA)]," says Byron Riddle, SAICA senior executive for Transformation and Growth.

What is the Student Leadership Summit?

The Student Leadership Summit is a competition open to all charted accounting stream BCom students currently studying at South Africa’s tertiary institutions. To enter, students are invited to submit a 1,000 word thought leadership essay on one of the topics below in order to win one of 30 spots at the annual business leader networking event.

This year’s topics are:

1. South Africa, as a mere 22-year-old democracy, is currently facing tough economic conditions, political turbulence and student unrest. Outline your views on the current university funding crisis under #feesmustfall and come up with ways in which funding for tertiary education can be made available to students. Discuss your thoughts on whether such funding should apply to all or only selected categories of students.

2. Describe the role that SAICA (as a professional body) and other stakeholders outside of government can play in upgrading South Africa’s economic status in order to avoid reaching junk status.

3. This was the second year of the introduction of the APC (Assessment of Professional Competency) exam; yet as a profession, we still witnessed poor behaviour from certain candidates. What should have been done better by SAICA, candidates and the training officers to stop candidates wanting to gain an unfair advantage? What parameters should be put into place to discourage ill practice from candidates?
   

The authors of the top 30 thought leadership essays receive an invitation to the 2016 Student Leadership Summit, held in Johannesburg from 6-7 October 2016, where they are given a chance to network, interact and engage with top SA business leaders, including SAICA CEO Dr Terence Nombembe, at an exclusive cocktail function held on the first night.

They will also take part in an intensive soft-skills workshop on the second day where they will be exposed to networking secrets, tips on how to build their own professional brand, cognitive and leadership sessions as well as presentations by leaders in business. In addition to this, the top three winning essays will also receive some amazing prizes as well.

Teboho Moephudi, project manager for university projects in SAICA’s Nation Building department, explains why this annual event is so important: "Communication and the ability to write is a crucial skill that all business leaders need, including aspiring CAs(SA). After all, people need to be able to communicate and express themselves eloquently and this is an extremely important skill for those wishing to enter the accounting profession. This, together with the ability to network with key business role models who have already walked their path to success, provides valuable inspiration for students to persevere with their studies and to complete the training requirements to become a CA(SA)."

How to enter

This competition is only open to students who are studying towards a chartered accountancy degree. To enter, email your 1,000 world essay together with the following information (full name, contact number, name of university and degree you are studying, student number, email address and word count) to az.oc.acias@noititepmocsls by no later than 26 August 2016.

This year’s Summit is proudly sponsored by Standard Bank with Sage Pastel, Protea Fire and Ice Hotels and Tailor Me sponsoring some of the winners’ prizes.

For any queries regarding entries, please contact SAICA project manager, Teboho Moephudi at az.oc.acias@mohobet.