IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v33y2025i1p144-157.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Leveraging on the fourth industrial revolution by African accountants in the sustenance of SDGs and AU Agenda 2063

Author

Listed:
  • Shepard Makurumidze
  • Obert Sifile
  • Daniel Twesige
  • Faustin Gasheja
  • Edson Gwangwava
  • Kudzanai Matowanyika
  • Shakemore Chinofunga
  • Ranga Mbizi
  • Kalisa Sunday

Abstract

The research sought to assess the use of 4IR technologies by the accountancy profession in Africa in the sustenance of SDGs and AU Agenda 2063. The investigation adopted a pragmatic approach, associated with mixed‐methodological approach. The target population for the study was 114,800 Professional Accountancy Organisations (PAOs) members from all 44 countries in Africa who were members of the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA). Online questionnaires and telephone interviews were administered to gather data. A total of 267 responses were received out of 114,800 members representing 0.23% of the population. Forty‐eight accountants were interviewed by telephone using the snowball sampling technique. Quantitative data gathered from online questionnaires was analysed using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 and ATLAS.ti 9 was used to analyse responses from interviews. The study showed that accountants in Africa had heard about 4IR technologies, with the Internet of Things (IoT) mostly used and known by accountants. The study established that 4IR technologies improved the standard of living, reduced social marginalisation, eased manual work, improved agricultural productivity, reduced environmental pollution, improved health services, financial inclusion and knowledge sharing. These benefits are critical for achieving SDGs and the African Agenda 2063. Accountants are recommended to continuously train and retrain on new and trending technologies like computerised audits, big data analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, robotics, bitcoin and its risks in the monetary systems, cyber security in the 4IR era, cloud computing and information management systems to sustain SDGs and AU Agenda 2063.

Suggested Citation

  • Shepard Makurumidze & Obert Sifile & Daniel Twesige & Faustin Gasheja & Edson Gwangwava & Kudzanai Matowanyika & Shakemore Chinofunga & Ranga Mbizi & Kalisa Sunday, 2025. "Leveraging on the fourth industrial revolution by African accountants in the sustenance of SDGs and AU Agenda 2063," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 144-157, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:33:y:2025:i:1:p:144-157
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.3110
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.3110
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.3110?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:mth:ijafr8:v:8:y:2018:i:4:p:139-158 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Seny Kan, Konan A. & Agbodjo, Serge & Gandja, Serge V., 2021. "Accounting polycentricity in Africa: Framing an ‘accounting and development’ research agenda," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Vincent Tawiah, 2019. "The state of IFRS in Africa," Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 17(4), pages 635-649, December.
    4. Teerooven Soobaroyen & Mathew Tsamenyi & Haresh Sapra, 2017. "Accounting and governance in Africa – contributions and opportunities for further research," Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(4), pages 422-427, November.
    5. Spartak Keremidchiev, 2019. "The Forth Industrial Revolution and CSR," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 2, pages 169-183, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Serge Agbodjo & Konan Anderson Seny Kan, 2024. "Toward a consciencism of accounting research on the African continent: A review of the international literature [Pour un consciencisme de la recherche comptable sur le continent africain : un état ," Post-Print halshs-04830453, HAL.
    2. Serge Agbodjo & Konan Anderson Seny Kan, 2024. "Toward a consciencism of accounting research on the African continent: A review of the international literature [Pour un consciencisme de la recherche comptable sur le continent africain : un état ," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) halshs-04830453, HAL.
    3. Qiang Wu & Jacob Cherian & Sarminah Samad & Ubaldo Comite & Huajie Hu & Stefan B. Gunnlaugsson & Judit Oláh & Muhammad Safdar Sial, 2021. "The Role of CSR and Ethical Leadership to Shape Employees’ Pro-Environmental Behavior in the Era of Industry 4.0. A Case of the Banking Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-20, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:33:y:2025:i:1:p:144-157. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1719 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.