AICPA & CIMA, together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) to offer a remote, digital self-paced learning program.

The program is named the CGMA Finance Leadership Program.

Under the partnership, UEW will offer the CGMA Finance Leadership Program to business, accounting, and finance students currently enrolled at the UEW as well as alumni who graduated from the university in the past five years.

With traditional in-person tuition and examination methods being challenged by digital acceleration, the CGMA Finance Leadership Program provides instant online access for aspiring business and finance leaders to gain the financial knowledge and competency needed in the world of business and accounting.

It also provides a new guided learning and assessment route to completing CIMA’s CGMA Professional Qualification and earning the CGMA designation, the most widely held management accounting designation in the world.

With the help of real-life case simulations, it teaches a mix of financial, accounting, business, people, leadership, and digital skills that are needed to build successful careers.

The partnership will enable UEW’s business, accounting, and finance students and alumni to start their CGMA journey during their university studies and start the program at an appropriate entry-level, building on their existing educational achievements.

Upon successfully completing the program and fulfilling the practical experience requirements, candidates will earn the prestigious CGMA designation and become CIMA members.

Paul Aninakwah, the Country Director for Ghana at AICPA & CIMA, said over the past three years, the world has experienced unparalleled events, which have changed the way we work, live, and communicate.

For accounting and finance professionals in all industries, it triggered innovation and rethinking. The aspirations of agility, creativity and the digital mindset have become a reality for many finance teams.

“We are very pleased to partner with UEW to offer our CGMA Finance Leadership Program, a complete digital learning platform to enable its students to acquire skills, knowledge, and growth mindset they need to meet the challenges ahead."

By becoming CGMA designation holders, UEW students will immediately stand out from the crowd with employers and significantly enhance their career options across business, accounting, and finance.”

Professor Braimah Awaisu Imurana, the Dean of the School of Business at UEW, said the school is excited to collaborate with an influential organisation like AICPA & CIMA to enable UEW students to become highly qualified finance and accounting professionals in a competitive job market.

"Ways of learning and working have changed drastically with new and emerging technologies, and this is a great opportunity for our students as they can now access a wider range of resources and programmes, such as the CGMA Finance Leadership Program, and adequately prepare themselves for the world of work. "

"This will help enhance our graduates’ skillsets and enable them to seize new, exciting career opportunities, which will benefit both businesses in Ghana and the Ghanaian economy," the dean noted.

This new agreement builds on the success of previous collaborations between AICPA & CIMA and UEW. In 2021, an accounting alumnus of the University of Education, Winneba, Richmond Adu Addo, was awarded a scholarship to study the CGMA Finance Leadership Program after finishing with a cumulative GPA of 3.85.

He successfully passed the Strategic Case Study exam, the capstone exam of CIMA’s CGMA Professional Qualification, in February 2023, a mere twelve months after he first enrolled in the CGMA Finance Leadership Program.

Richmond Adu Addo, Accounting Alumni at UEW, said: “I am grateful to have been recognised for my achievements and offered the opportunity to study the CGMA Finance Leadership Program.

It has equipped me with the right technical and soft skills to easily navigate the workplace and I have already been able to contribute immensely to my organisation and my growth prospects in the accounting and finance profession are limitless.

Going through the program has also given me even more motivation to build a global career. I hope that my story will inspire students at my alma mater and make them realise that their dreams are possible.”