CGI Zim celebrates Golden Jubilee

this year marks the golden jubilee of the Chartered governance and accountancy institute in Zimbabwe (Cgi Zimbabwe), formerly institute of Chartered secretaries and administrators in Zimbabwe (iCsaZ). The institute was established 50 years ago on 1 january 1971 by an act of parliament, the Chartered secretaries (private) act.

Cgi Zimbabwe is a division of the Chartered governance institute (Cgi) global, which was established in the united Kingdom in 1891 as the institute of secretaries. in 1902 it was granted a royal charter and became the Chartered institute of secretaries (Cis). The global institute later changed its name to the institute of Chartered secretaries and administrators (iCsa) international. in 1909 the first branch of the then Cis outside the united Kingdom was established in south africa. in 1957 this branch was recognised as the southern african division of the institute.

The institute was incorporated in Zimbabwe, then known as rhodesia, on 1 january 1971 by an act of parliament, the Chartered secretaries (private) act. it was initially part of the southern african division of the global institute. in january 1992, the Zimbabwean office became a division on its own of the global institute.

The golden jubilee celebrated by the institute in Zimbabwe this year marks the 50th year since its establishment as a statutory body by the national parliament.

The act prescribes the operations of the institute in Zimbabwe, the status and public practice rights of its members and its relationship with the government and the rest of the world.

as a division of the global institute, its examination standards and criteria for membership are the same as those that apply in the other eight divisions of the global institute.

The Zimbabwe division differs from most other divisions in that those who pass the final exams of what has been known as the Cis qualification (taken from the original Chartered institute of secretaries name of the international body once it was granted chartered status) are eligible to register through the institute as registered public accountants (rpacc) with the public accountants and auditors Board (paaB). This is because the Cgi Zimbabwe syllabus includes accountancy as well as governance subjects.

Cgi Zimbabwe was a founding principal constituent body when the paaB was formed in 1996 through the enactment of the public accountants and auditors act to establish the paaB as the regulator of the accountancy profession in Zimbabwe. at continental level, Cgi Zimbabwe is a full member of the pan african Federation of accountants (paFa). in november 2020, Cgi Zimbabwe became an associate member of the international Federation of accountants (iFaC), becoming part of the global accountancy profession.

in 1980 the institute launched the institute of Business and accounting studies (iBas) to bring practical business education within the reach of those who did not yet qualify academically for the Cis course. today, those who obtain an iBas qualification are able to use this for a clerical or technician career in business and accountancy. it also provides a route for exemptions to the Cgi’s qualifying scheme.

The local institute has taken other unique initiatives such as hosting the excellence in Corporate governance awards since 2013 and introducing the diploma in Forensic accounting in 2017. it also introduced a public sector accounting programme in 2019.

The golden jubilee was celebrated at the annual conference in victoria Falls, which took place from 23 to 25 september.

meanwhile Cgi Zimbabwe was fomerly the institute of Chartered secretaries and administrators in Zimbabwe (iCsaZ) but rebranded and changed its name to Chartered governance and accountancy institute in Zimbabwe (Cgi Zimbabwe).

The global institute to which Cgi Zimbabwe belongs has already rebranded from institute of Chartered secretaries and administrators (iCsa) international to the Chartered governance institute (Cgi) global to reflect its focus on governance, risk and compliance.

The Zimbabwe division, unlike most of the other divisions of the Cgi global institute, focuses on two areas: accountancy and governance. This is why the new name of the institute in Zimbabwe includes accountancy as well as governance.

The rebranding resulted in the professional designation of the institute’s members changing from “Chartered secretary” to “Chartered governance professional” with provisions in the training for members to specialise either in accountancy and use the designation Chartered governance professional accountant (Cgpa) or in governance, risk and Compliance (grC) and use the designation Chartered governance professional (Cgp) or both.

The education and training programme for the membership qualifying scheme remains the previous iCsa Qualification scheme but with specialisation options for in-depth grounding in accountancy or grC providing two membership path ways.

The institute will be rolling out monitored practical training of its students at accredited training offices in line with the chosen membership pathways and will hold specialised accountancy and grC Continuous professional development (Cpd) programmes to meet the expectations of both the Cgi global and iFaC.

the institute’s new logo and corporate colours will reflect those of the Cgi global brand.