To address the deficit, the World Bank is implementing the Foundational Accounting and Financial Management Skills Enhancement (FASE) Program to develop qualified accounting technicians to serve in Africa's public and private sectors. The program, funded by the Austria Ministry of Finance, focuses on two streams of activities. Firstly, supporting five (5) African French-speaking countries (Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco, Tunisia, and Senegal) to design or revise and offer accounting technician qualifications. Secondly, developing an Accounting Technician Qualification for Africa to be made available for rollout in African countries in partnership with the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA).
 
The World Bank hosted a Virtual Knowledge-sharing Event, targeting participants from the five countries, to share (a) about the FASE program and (b) experiences and lessons on designing and implementing the accounting technician qualifications in the five French-speaking countries. The event was attended by 97 participants from the five countries, together with representatives from the World Bank, Austria Ministry of Finance, International Federation of Accountants, PAFA, Fédération Internationale Des Experts-Comptables Francophones (FIDEF), and OHADA.

The participants shared experiences and lessons of designing or revising qualifications relating to the syllabus structure, assessments of the qualifications, the training arrangements, proposed initiatives to attract students to the qualifications and role of different institutions. For more, refer to the event video recording.

At the conclusion of the round table, Adenike Sherifat Oyeyiola, Practice Manager (EGVPF), made a call on action to participants to accelerate the development of the certification/qualification programs and learning materials for students and lecturers.