Interview: Kader Kaneye’s American dream

HLB KMC West Africa executive partner Kader Kaneye has had a successful twelve months. In June, his independent firm became a member of HLB International, and this month he has been named as one of 500 people selected for the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), created and supported by US President Barack Obama.

YALI was launched in 2010 by president Obama, and according to the organisation its mission is "to support young African leaders as they spur growth and prosperity, strengthen democratic governance, and enhance peace and security across Africa."

Kaneye says KMC's business ethos has always been "business that will always lead to changing society."

"Since we were an independent firm, we have done everything we can to comply with International Federation or Accountants (IFAC) standards and we also had our own code of conduct. We had this in an environment where these things don't exist, and firms often work as they want to," he told the International Accounting Bulletin, adding the firm often struggles to get feedback on its work.

Kaneye said that being selected for the YALI programme means recognition at "international level for what we are doing here."

Being selected for the YALI scheme also involves a six week visit to study in the US, including a three day summit in Washington, hosted by president Obama, starting in June.

Kaneye says: "we will learn from the Americans, their perspectives, we will learn about the top new developments in management. And then we will come back here, and teach everything we learned. Like concentric circles, we will train our 40 staff, who will train other people and so on."

KMC also joined HLB International last year, which Kaneye says "was like opening a new world for us."

Because the firm operated to international standards, the firm got work with a number of international networks, including mid-tier and Big Four firms.

Looking ahead, HLB KMC is looking to open offices in a number of West African countries, through a mixture joint ventures and start ups.