The global professional body of accountants Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has pledged to be more involved in contributing towards the growth and development of the local capital markets to deepen access and open it up for more listings.

The resolution was reached at a meeting yesterday that brought together industry executives from audit companies, financial services sector and the regulator hosted by the ACCA.

Speaking during the meeting, ACCA Deputy President Barry Cooper said the organisation had done a lot of research work in assessing capital markets in emerging economies and drawn a great similarity that captured Tanzania.

The results of the research, he explained were outlined in two reports ‘The Rise of Capital Markets in Emerging and Frontier Economies’ and ‘Making Capital Markets Work in Emerging and Frontier Economies’.

The former provides a review of the academic literature on capital market development and proposes ways of enriching the global debate on this subject, while the latter is a compendium of case studies that provides first-hand accounts of critical episodes in the development of capital markets in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean from senior professionals in capital markets authorities, exchange operators and accountancy practices.

“Together, the two papers provide an overview of the theory and practice of market development and an appreciation of the challenges for emerging economies and the stakes involved. Without some of these key insights presented in these, it is impossible to understand many the policy and market developments in emerging markets,” Wescott said.

He added that emerging capital markets were playing an increasingly vital role in the global economy by opening up international supply and lowering the cost of capital.

ACCA, he noted, firmly believed that policymakers and the accountancy profession must champion the value of disclosure and assurance. Doing this would not only increase investor confidence, but environmental, social and governance reporting are likely to become part of a broadening landscape of disclosure in the future.

Cooper pointed out that the visit by members of the global governing council to East Africa ACCA was designed to gain further insights about the aspects of the regional economies and to bring policymakers, regulators, exchange operators and corporate decision-makers together to share lessons and figure out accountants’ role to support financial deepening in the public interest.