1st Accounting and Finance Research Association International Conference

Abuja,Nigeria

This conference will bring together scholars whose works focus primarily, but not exclusively, on the various dynamics that have impacted on the development of accounting and finance institutions and practices in the continent.

Accounting and finance scholars of Africa and in Africa have tended to accept, without critical questioning, the diverse theoretical perspectives that have driven accounting and finance research in the continent and structured debates on the subject matter.

Oftentimes, very little is known about the emergence and development of the diverse schools of thought and theoretical perspectives which are often taken for granted as neutral explanatory tools for our understanding of the development and practice of accounting and finance in the African continent. Thus, African accounting and finance researchers frequently organize, synthesize and evaluate their data without critical analysis of the assumptions and/or methods used in the emergence of such data. The fact that most of such methods have evolved outside the cultural, political and environmental context of Africa seems to be of little consequence. Consequently, accounting and finance research in Africa have tended to ignore the African influences (or lack of it) when focusing on the dynamics and practices of accounting and finance institutions such as development banks, insurance companies, accounting firms and accounting and finance standard setting and regulatory bodies. The consequence is that few studies on African accounting and finance examine their subject matter from an African perspective.

One possible way of remedying the above pitfall is for scholars of accounting and finance in Africa to reflect more on the historical evolution of the various forms of accounting and finance practices and institutions that have existed in the African continent across time. Studies that focus on pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial Africa will, no doubt, help in our appreciation of the various dynamics that have impacted on the development of various accounting and finance institutions and practices in the continent. This, of course, is without prejudice to the fact that Africa’s colonial heritage, which has greatly impacted on the development and practice of accounting and finance in Africa is also a legitimate part of African history. Studies that investigate the impact of the continent’s colonial heritage on the development of Africa’s financial reporting systems, cost accounting systems, monetary and fiscal policies, financial institutions, the internal control systems and other financial management issues, are also welcome. Studies on the struggle for dominance between indigenous and colonial influences in the development of accounting and finance in Africa are also encouraged.

Conference topics include

• Theoretical papers on the impact of social, political and cultural environment on the regulation and practice of accounting and finance
• The relationship between the evolution of African accounting and finance research, and global social discourses.
• Foreign influences on accounting and finance in Africa
• Evolution of indigenous financial institutions.
• Effect of foreign cultures on Africa’s capital markets
• Comparative studies of African accounting and financial systems.
• Comparative studies of African and non-African accounting and financial systems.
• Indigenous accounting and finance practices in Africa.
• The success of pre-colonial, colonial or post colonial financial systems in Africa
• Financial crisis in Africa
• Financial regulation in Africa
• Evolution and development of insurance in Africa
• Evolution and development of the accounting and finance profession in Africa
• Evolution and development of taxation in Africa

Organized by: Accounting and Finance Research Association

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