In this issue…

With the hotly anticipated Uefa Women’s Euro 2025 football tournament gripping the continent in July, AB trained its lens on the business of women’s football and rugby, and the record revenues the sports have been enjoying. Find out how the women’s game is cashing in. 

This month we meet not one but two African women performing at the top of their game. Our main interview is with Joyce Tamale FCCA, founder and chief executive of Capital Solutions. After building a successful career in the healthcare sector, where the NGO failure rate is particularly high, she harnessed her own entrepreneurial spirit to set up a business to help social entrepreneurs in Uganda. ‘They know they want to create impact,’ she says, ‘but they don’t think about how the enterprise will live tomorrow.’

Toyin Olufon FCCA, meanwhile, was in her mid-20s when she set up her tech-driven practice, Lefort Consulting, in Nigeria, inspired by her retail entrepreneur mother. A decade later she also runs a separate business training accountants in technology and data analytics. ‘It’s not enough just to be an accountant,’ she says. ‘To be able to add value, you need to be a tech-savvy accountant.’

Elsewhere, we explore the impact of Kenya’s recent budget on the country’s MSMEs and ask whether the initiatives proposed are enough to transform the sector.

In our practice section, we look at the soft skills – communication, flexibility and emotional intelligence – that finance professionals need to drive successful audits and stakeholder confidence.

And beyond the human dimension, Adam Deller looks at the International Accounting Standards Board’s revised Practice Statement on the management commentary in a CPD article. 

Finally, if you haven’t found it already, the AB app is available for you to access our insights and guidance on the go. Recent developments include enhanced navigation, regional and sector tailoring, and there are also audio versions of articles. Download it before you go off on your holidays!