ALL ADDING UP: FAZEELA GOPALANI

Fazeela Gopalani, head of the global accountancy and finance association ACCA in the Middle East, is pushing further for female representation in the field while showing the next generation the benefits of an Al-supported career in finance.

- SAMAR KHOURI

A lot can change in a year, especially in the finance and tech game, as the digital economy evolves. In 2023, ChatGPT exploded onto the scene, and AI’s societal integration has shifted the education and accountancy landscape at large. The demand for high-quality education that helps build a knowledge-based economy is on the rise in MENA amid a digitization drive and government investments. By 2027, the overall market value of the Middle East’s education sector is expected to reach $175 billion, according to estimates from Industry ARC. “The world is changing, and I think we’re recognizing that as a professional body, we need to make sure that we’re keeping on top of these changes,” says Fazeela Gopalani, the Middle East Head of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the global body for professional accountants.

In addition to upskilling individuals with professional qualifications, ACCA Middle East has been pushing to encourage more women into the finance and accountancy profession. Its Women in Finance program was launched in 2022 in line with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Gender Inequality Index. “I wanted to see what we could do as ACCA in the Middle East to support women with progressing in their careers,” she says. “I wanted to listen more to what is happening out there. And then I wanted to also support women with things like imposter syndrome.” Globally, ACCA is made up of 49% female members and students, but for the Middle East, numbers are low, according to Gopalani. However, in December 2023, ACCA opened an office in Saudi Arabia and recruited its first female Saudi employee to run the office. In 2023, it introduced Women in Finance to Oman, and in 2024, it plans to expand this further and take a roadshow across the U.A.E., Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain.