Speaker
Description
Erasmus, M.
Federal University of Technology Ikot Abasi
erasmb@yahoo.com
Track: Digital Pedagogy and Teaching Innovation
The rapid digital transformation of the global financial landscape is impacting significantly on the accounting profession and fundamentally reshaping the knowledge, skills and competencies required of accounting graduates. However, accounting education in many African universities remains largely anchored on traditional approaches to teaching and professional preparation. This disconnect has created an emerging skills gap between the competencies developed through accounting programmes and those increasingly demanded by technology-enabled industries. This study challenges the status-quo and calls for a re-examination of how the integration of digital technologies can contribute to bridging this skills gap and preparing accounting graduates who would fit into the evolving digital landscape. Drawing on contemporary literature, policy documents, and international best practices, the paper adopts a qualitative conceptual approach to synthesize current knowledge on accounting education, digital competencies and accounting skills gap. The study argues that the digital skills gap is not simply a consequence of inadequate access to technology but reflects a broader mismatch involving curriculum rigidity, limited faculty preparedness and inadequate digital infrastructure. The study therefore contends that effective digital transformation requires accounting education to move beyond technology awareness toward the development of integrated competencies encompassing digital literacy, data analytics, artificial intelligence literacy, critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities. The study develops an integrated framework that conceptualizes digital technology integration as a multidimensional educational transformation involving curriculum design, pedagogical innovation, faculty digital competence, institutional readiness and university-industry collaboration. The study contributes to the accounting education literature by reframing the digital skills gap as a systemic educational challenge requiring coordinated transformation of curricula, pedagogy, faculty capability, infrastructure and industry–academia relationships. The framework provides a basis for recommendations to universities, professional accounting bodies, policymakers and employers to redesign accounting education in ways that produce future-ready and professionally responsible graduates who can participate effectively in Africa’s evolving digital economy.