On 12 May 2011 at the South African High Commission to Lesotho, SAICA and the Lesotho Institute of Accountants (LIA) launched a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) committing the two institutes to work together and grow the CA(SA) profession in Lesotho.
Key features of the agreement are that SAICA will support the LIA to raise funding in Lesotho for 10 Lesotho pupils each year to receive full Thuthuka bursaries to study and train as chartered accountants in South Africa at the University of Johannesburg in 2012. SAICA will also work with the LIA to promote and market chartered accountancy as a career of choice in Lesotho and will lobby government and business for support. In the longer term SAICA will work with the LIA to evaluate the current programme offered by the National University of Lesotho (NUL) and partner with them to develop the programme for the future education of students studying towards the CA qualification at the university.
This is the first such memorandum of understanding signed by SAICA with a neighboring institute. SAICA is engaging with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) which both hosted the Lesotho launch event and is providing SAICA with further support in Africa. It is hoped that further agreements can be concluded to both grow the designation within Africa and to bring about closer regional cooperation.
For further information please contact Adri Kleinhans on 011 621 6634 or adrik@saica.co.za