Accounting and consulting firm Crowe Global has reappointed Erastus Kwaka Omolo, a senior financial consultant and managing partner of Crowe Erastus & Co in Kenya, to its board.
Mr Omolo, who was first appointed to the global firm's board in October 2021, says he will use his two-year extension to the board to broaden investors' understanding of the robust African market, global financial business flows, cross-border trade and tax opportunities - and by extension, Kenya - and the opportunities it offers.
"The learnings from our countries are largely unknown to the outside world. Even those who seem to know a lot out there know very little about Kenya and Africa," says Mr Omolo, who has over 40 years' experience in the financial sector.
"The world has become so small that the effect of moving profits from one jurisdiction to another is easily felt and seen. Kenya wants to benefit from its own resources. The lessons I get will invariably benefit the accounting practice in Kenya".
Mr Omolo is the longest-serving member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya. He says he will be able to bring lessons in public tax and finance management to benefit the country.
“There are many things that need to be changed. Not only the tax rates. You don’t get more tax by increasing the tax percentage. When you take more money from the public, you are taking my power to purchase. I will therefore buy less of everything and therefore VAT will reduce by even a bigger margin,” he added.
The new PAYE scales, says Mr Omolo, punish the wealth creators. "Those who earn big bucks and own big businesses are the wealth makers; they are the leaders in the industry. They create systems and jobs that employ people. If you stop them from doing what they are good at, you are killing the goose that lays the golden egg.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need CPA services now more than ever. However, only a handful of SMEs can afford the services of a CPA.
"If they don't purchase it, there will be a lot of people who will become delinquents, or they will start to innovate to skirt the system. We must have a justice system that works. If the justice system is faulty, then it discourages even those who would have wished to be compliant."
The global accountancy profession is being disrupted by increased regulation, rapid technological change and a shortage of professionals at all levels of experience.
"Erastus and the other members of the Crowe Global board and management team are working with our member firms to help them not only meet these challenges, but find new ways to excel in this dynamic environment," said Jim Powers, Chairman of Crowe Global.
The presence of Erastus on the board means that Kenya will be among the countries represented on the Crowe Global board and the only country from the African continent, with the other countries being the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, South Korea, Australia, Kuwait and India. Crowe Erastus & Co became a member firm of Crowe Global in 2009.
Crowe is the eighth largest accounting network in the world and the sixth largest in Asia, with more than 200 independent accounting and consulting firms in over 140 countries. It is also one of only seven global firms in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for risk consulting services. The network has a total of 36,540 professionals worldwide and global revenues of US$4.3 billion.
