The Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG) in collaboration with an ERM Specialist, Mad. Naa Adorkor Codjoe has ended a two-day workshop on Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and Risk Register Development in Accra. The workshop is part of several initiatives under the collaboration to ensure that Accountants spearhead the drive to embed risk management in the operations of their respective organisations.

The workshop covered topics which included how to design and develop risk registers; overview of risk assessment and identification; severity and impact analysis of risks events; and risk prioritization and resource allocation.

The workshop also focused on the effective use of essential tools and dashboards – Bowties, Risk Matrix/Risk Maps among others.

Mad. Naa Adorkor Codjoe, a Risk and Financial Management Specialist and facilitator of workshop said businesses face rapid change and increasing uncertainty including geopolitical events, volatile financial markets, technological developments, cybersecurity and data privacy concerns among others.

“On that basis, proper risk management is increasingly important to organisations to ensure their resiliency and success in the long term,” She explained.

Mad. Naa Adorkor Codjoe, a member of ICA Ghana and the Institute of Risk Management, UK, and a former Risk Specialist with the Global Fund, Switzerland, said “it is no longer acceptable for organizations to find themselves in positions whereby unexpected events cause disruptions to normal operations, financial loss and damage to reputation”.

She further reiterated the fact that shareholders expect organizations to take full account of the risk that confront the organizations; and a risk register is essential in the successful management of risks.

About 90 Practising Risk Managers, Internal Auditors, Chartered Accountants, Policy Makers and Finance Managers attended the workshop.

Professor Kwame Adom-Frimpong, President of ICAG, welcoming participants said the Institute will passionately pursue its efforts to strengthen the training and re-training of competent accountants for the job market to ensure the sustained growth of the country’s economy.

He said the Institute has over the years, institutionalized certain key activities, such as Continuous Professional Development (CDP) programs to sharpen knowledge base of its members as well as District Societies to aid in networking and cohesion among members.

Mr. Kwasi Agyemang, Chief Executive Officer of ICAG also stressed that professional accountant plays an important leading role in helping an organization to strengthen their internal controls and risk management.

He said, in addition to drafting financial statements or helping with financial strategy, a prospective accounting professional must be prepared to deal with all of the uncertainties that an organization can face.

Meanwhile, participants expressed the knowledge gained and the practicality of the workshop will facilitate the management of Risk in their respective organizations.

The two-day workshop runs in Kumasi and Takoradi on the 13th & 14th and 20th and 21st of this month respectively.