By Derrick Silimina
At the age of 37, Andrew Chibuye is the new Country Senior Partner of Pricewaterhouse-Coopers (PwC), a position that will allow him to oversee and execute the organization’s strategy with effect from 1 July 2020.
Despite his youthful age, Andrew Chibuye’s tour of duty will see him managing PwC’s industry-focused assurance, advisory, and tax services.
“My primary area of expertise is assurance as an auditor. My new role will see me take on more responsibilities for the operations of the firm as a whole,” he adds.
A qualified chartered accountant by profession from the Zambia Centre for Accountancy Studies (ZCAS), Chibuye graduated in 2003 and joined PwC where he has worked for 16 years.
During his time at PwC, he was sent to Edinburgh, Scotland where he worked as a senior auditor for two years. After his brief stint in Europe, Chibuye came back to Zambia as an audit manager and rose through the ranks to become a partner, a position he has held for the past four years.
As the world continues to evolve, auditing firms have become increasingly relevant in ensuring that financial management standards in both public and private institutions are adhered to.
PwC’s purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. PwC is a network of firms in 157 countries with over 276,000 staff who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory, and tax.
Appointment
With PwC’s long-established reputation of serving Government, donors, and other international donor institutions, as well as the private sector through its offices in Lusaka, Chibuye will continue to focus on meeting society and stakeholder expectations as required of professionals like him.
“Different stakeholders have ever-higher expectations of what professional firms like us should be delivering to society. Our responsibility is to fully understand and live up to those expectations,” Chibuye states.
At every turn, companies and investors are challenged by powerful market forces and new global realities that place a premium on speed, reach, and informed perspective.
Chibuye stresses that to achieve and sustain one’s relevance to society and stakeholders, there is a need to pursue a goal bigger than oneself.
“Being the country senior partner for Zambia ultimately means more responsibilities. I have previously
been responsible for the assurance line of the service department which is our largest in the country
with about 80 to 90 people in that team. Now I will be responsible for the whole team which is about 150 people,” he says.
Chibuye draws his inspiration from his late father, Gabriel Chibuye, one of the first qualified accountants in Zambia and who was a partner at Deloitte for a long time.
With PwC’s long-established reputation of serving Government, donors, and other international donor institutions, as well as the private sector through its offices in Lusaka,
Chibuye will continue to focus on meeting society and stakeholder expectations as required of professionals like him.
Visionary
Chibuye observes that visionary leadership at any firm calls for management skills to realize the organization’s objectives.
For him, being at the helm of one of the leading professional services firms entails communicating a multi-layered vision.
He explains that to achieve success, leadership requires guiding the organization through periods of change to evolve stronger and more resilient.
The present health and economic challenges in Zambia and worldwide is no exception.
“In the short to medium-term, the emphasis is on retaining our clients, ensuring all our staff are motivated, and enabling our clients to emerge more resilient through this period,” he says.
In acknowledging the various other professional services firms in the country, Chibuye says what sets PwC apart is its dynamic, energetic, and quality workforce with the capacity to respond to a wide range of client needs. Added to that, PwC Zambia leverages global and local innovations to serve clients more efficiently and in new ways.
Zambia’s public financial management is one area where PwC can add value. Auditors can ensure improved institutional financial management which includes detecting and deterring fraud.
Acknowledging that there can be questions about what a statutory audit is and is not, Chibuye reiterates that “the complexity of illicit financial flows is generally high and requires specialized skills to detect. Auditors do play a key role in the identification of fraud and we do not shy away from that responsibility. The onus is on us to continue to adapt and respond to the challenges and risks as they arise,” he explains.
Driven by his Christian values, Chibuye believes that anything is possible if one puts their mind to it.
Chibuye surmises that his new role is for a season, and once entrusted with the responsibility to uplift the pedigree of an organization, one should build a legacy behind by ensuring that the organization becomes even stronger than one found it.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, so goes an old adage. For Chibuye, cycling and watching soccer occupies his free time. He also enjoys spending quality time with his family.
“Individually, I cycle a lot and it is my passion at the moment. If you do not find me at home or doing something at home, you will see me on the road on a bicycle,” he remarks.
Chibuye is married to Mainza and together they have three children.
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