Globally there are 60 countries that do not have professional accountancy organizations (PAOs), and, there are an additional 93 PAOs that do not have sufficient capacity to function effectively at all levels. IFAC (The International Federation of Accountants) continues its work in providing effective guidance to PAOs for enhanced governance. Strong governance enriches PAOs’ mission and vision, resulting in improved quality of financial management systems in emerging economies.

IFAC has released a new publication, ‘Focusing on Performance’, to build awareness within the PAO community to provide guidance and encourage best governance practices and principles within their current governance arrangements. The publication also features a self-assessment tool for PAOs to utilize when reviewing their governance framework. 

IFAC continues to identify and share PAO’s governance experiences and success stories via the Global Knowledge Gateway. Visit the site now for resources and thought leadership.

Mike Mbaya first served as a technical advisor to the IFAC SMP Advisory Group (SMPAG) from January of 2015. After serving a 3 year term, he was appointed as a full member of the same committee commencing January 2018. He was nominated by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK).

Mr. Mbaya is the lead partner of  Mbaya & Associates which is a highly reputed mid-sized accounting practice in Kenya. He has been an accounting practitioner for close to 20 years serving the African region and he has an enviable exposure and understanding of governance and accounting matters in developing nations.

Mr. Mbaya joined the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in 2004 and has served on their Practitioners Development Committee for 7 years. He has also served as a Treasurer of the East African Wildlife Society which is a leading conservation body in Africa. He has also served as the Treasurer of the Kenya Harlequins Rugby Football Club, these two positions demonstrate his love for Nature and Rugby Football Union.

Mr. Mbaya is a Certified Public Accountant in Kenya and has a Masters Degree in Development Finance from the University Of Stellenbosch, to go with his Bachelor of International Business Administration Degree from the United States International University.

Johnson Kong was appointed as a Member of the Small and Medium Practices Advisory Group in November 2017. He was nominated by the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants ("HKICPA"). He is the Deputy Chair of the SMPAG and chairs the SMP Business Support Task Force.

Mr. Kong, a Past President of HKICPA and an appointed Accounting Advisor to the PRC Ministry of Finance, has over 35 years of professional accounting experience and specializes in restructuring, insolvency, forensic and litigation support works. He is the Managing Director of BDO Hong Kong, a Firm which he has been with for over 30 years, and responsible for all its non-Assurance services.

Andrew Brathwaite was appointed to the IFAC SMP Advisory Group (SMPAG) in January 2018. He was nominated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados.

Mr. Brathwaite is currently the principal of a small accounting and auditing practice in Barbados. Prior to this he was an Audit Partner with KPMG in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. He has almost 25 years of experience in the profession, providing audit, tax, and business advisory service to a wide range of SMEs in various industries.

Mr. Brathwaite was the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados between May 2017 and May 2019, having previously served in that capacity from May 2010 to May 2012. He has served on the Council's Institute since 2002, chairing a number of committees and also served for six years as a director and alternate director of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean. Mr. Brathwaite served as a member of the SME Implementation Group of the IFRS Foundation from 2010 to 2016. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados and a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Nova Scotia.

Gregory Driscoll is a Partner in the Risk Management, Independence Group at KPMG LLP in the United States.  In this role, Mr. Driscoll has responsibilities related to ethics and independence for KPMG-US and participates with KPMG International’s Global Independence Group.  Previous to this role, Mr. Driscoll also served in the Department of Professional Practice for KPMG-US, which included a practice fellowship with the US Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). During his fellowship, Mr. Driscoll also was partially seconded to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board. 

Mr. Driscoll is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.  He has a BS in Accounting from Fairfield University.

Professor Winifred Mary Tarinyeba Kiryabwire was appointed to the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) in 2018 as a self-nominated public member. Sheis an Associate Professor of law in the department of Commercial Law at the School of Law, Makerere University in Uganda. Areas of expertise include corporate law, securities regulation, and corporate governance.

Outside academia, Ms. Kiryabwire has advised various government agencies and inter-governmental bodies on the development and implementation of company law and securities regulatory frameworks.

Ms. Kiryabwire is a certified company director and serves as non- executive director for a financial institution in Uganda (DFCU Bank Limited) where she is a member of the Audit Committee, Risk and Credit Committee and chair of the Remuneration Committee. In addition, she is a non- executive director of a multi donor funded financial sector development organization (Financial Sector Deepening Uganda) where she chairs the Investment Committee and is a member of the Audit, Finance, and Risk Committee.  

Ms. Kiryabwire has previously served as Chairperson of Gatsby Microfinance Uganda Limited, member of the Governing Council of Mbarara University of Science and Technology and member of the board of Makerere University Holdings Limited, African Alliance Uganda Ltd, member of the Public Sector Administration Audit Committee and Vice- Chairperson of the Uganda National NGO Quality Assurance Mechanism.

She is a member of the Institute of Directors (UK), International Insolvency Institute and INSOL International. Ms. Kiryabwire holds a Doctor of Science of Law degree (JSD) and Master of Science of Law degree (JSM) from Stanford University, as well as a Master of Laws degree (LL.M) from Cambridge University, UK; a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice (PGDLP).

Sung-Nam Kim became a member of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants in January, 2021. He was nominated by the Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants (KICPA).

Mr. Kim is currently a non-partner advisor of EY Korea and an Executive Auditor of the KICPA. He retired from EY Korea as a Risk Management partner in June 2018. He served as a member of the Korea Accounting Standards Board (2005-2009) and the Ethics Standards Board of the KICPA (2016- 2020).

Mr. Kim received a Bachelor's Degree and an MBA in accounting at Sung Kyun Kwan University in Korea and is a member of the KICPA and a former member of the AICPA.

Brian Friedrich was an IESBA member from 2018-2023, including chairing the IESBA Technology Working Group and eCode Advisory Group.

Mr. Friedrich was a principal in a research, standards, and education consultancy firm that has shaped his work experience for over 20 years. T He has co-authored numerous World Bank publications in the area of competency-based education, training, and certification in accountancy. Previous to this, he worked in education for CPA Canada (then CGA Canada) and in the Greater Vancouver auditing practice of KPMG LLP.

Mr. Friedrich has served on CPA Canada's Public Trust Committee (PTC, and one of its legacy predecessors) since 2011, chairing its Exposure Draft Working Group from 2014 to 2017. The PTC is responsible for overseeing the regulatory structures and processes across Canadian jurisdictions and helps ensure Canada meets or exceeds international standards. He is also a director on the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and sits on its Audit Committee. Mr. Friedrich served for 10 years on the board of the Chartered Professional Accountants of BC, which is the provincial regulatory body for CPAs in British Columbia, Canada. This tenure spanned the merger of the three accounting bodies, during which he chaired one of the bodies and served as Co-Chair of the CPA Transitional Steering Committee. He also chaired the Ethics and Discipline committees for a number of years, including as a Tribunal Chair.

Mr. Friedrich holds a Master of Education (UBC), Master of Laws (York Osgoode), and a Chartered Director designation (McMaster). He became a Canadian CPA in 2001, and was awarded fellowship in 2011 and a life membership in 2014 for his service to the profession in education, ethics, and governance.

Dame Onome Adewuyi is the Executive Director, Finance and Administration, at Cynergy Platforms Limited, which she co-founded. Previously, she worked at Fidelity Bank Plc from 1997 to 2015 where she rose to the position of Executive Director, Risk Management, from 2009 to 2015.

Dame Adewuyi’s career spans more than 35 years and includes many sectors, including manufacturing, oil and gas, and banking. She was the 56^th president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) from 2020 to 2021 and on ICAN’s Governing Council for 15 years, chairing and serving on many different ICAN committees, as well as being an ICAN Honorary Treasurer for three terms.

Dame Adewuyi’s service to the accountancy profession at the international and regional level include being appointed to the Public Interest Oversight Board’s Standard-Setting Boards’ Nominations Committee; serving as president, Council member and honorary treasurer of the Association of Accountancy Bodies of West Africa; chairing of the Society of Women Accountants of Nigeria; and being a Pan African Federation of Accountants board member.

Dame Adewuyi has served on the boards of several public and private companies as well as government agencies, including the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria and Law Union and Rock Insurance Plc. She is currently the chair of the board of Dominion Finance Company Limited and a non-executive director at Dominion Trust Limited. She was also recently appointed as chair of the NDDC Cooperative Society MicroFinance Bank.

Dame Adewuyi holds a B.Sc. second class Honours, Upper Division Degree in Accounting from the University of Benin, Nigeria, and an M.Sc. Degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. She qualified as a Chartered Accountant (ACA) in 1986, conferred (FCA) of ICAN in 1997. She also qualified as a Chartered Banker (ACIB) in 1993 and was conferred a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in 2007. She is also a Fellow of the Risk Managers Association of Nigeria, where she was the vice president in 2007, and has attended several programs at international business schools internationally and in Nigeria.