Abstract
This paper documents the rise of fraud examination and forensic accounting education and research in Africa, using Nigeria to mirror the development. With attendant fraud and corrupt practices in Nigeria there are muted discussions on strategic ways to build capacity in the drive to curtail these unwholesome practices. The paper concludes, inter alia , that: (i) fraud examination and forensic accounting (FEFA) education has become an indispensable subject area in the light of the challenge of fraud and corruption in Nigeria’s (and Africa’s) economy; (ii) there is currently no formal structure for FEFA education in Nigerian tertiary education system even though there is some evidence of integration of forensic accounting education at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels; and (iii) due to the skill set required, FEFA education cannot be conveniently subsumed under traditional accounting programmes. The study recommends the articulation of a clear framework for FEFA education, coordinated by tertiary education regulators and inclusion of routine forensic audits as part of the corporate governance architecture of public and private sector organizations in Nigeria.
Highlights
Any attempt to develop conceptual foundations about the definition and identification of governance costs in all organizational settings must first identify the drivers of governance costs and distinguish between the variations of strategic behaviour and incentives across different actors and governance costs within a geographic operational milieu
The broad objectives of this study are threefold: first, to establish the relevance of forensic accounting education and practice in Nigeria; second, to ascertain the depth of FEFA through a webometric analysis of extant literature on fraud examination and forensic accounting in Nigeria; and third, to establish the required skills set for FEFA educators and practitioners in Nigeria, and by extension in Africa
There has been little emphasis on how systematic FEFA education could be a useful tool in engendering accountability, transparency, and good governance in Nigeria and other African countries
Summary
Any attempt to develop conceptual foundations about the definition and identification of governance costs (transaction costs) in all organizational settings must first identify the drivers of governance costs and distinguish between the variations of strategic behaviour and incentives across different actors and governance costs within a geographic operational milieu (rules and actors). The global economic consequences of recent accounting scandals juxtaposing the increasing spate of fraud and corruption have occasioned new national and international antifraud and anti-money laundering legislations These have created a huge demand for fraud investigation and forensic accounting work. The SFAFP is available for those contemplating a career in fraud examination and forensic accounting (FEFA) What these developments portray is that the landscape of FEFA has expanded in response to the bloom in accounting fraud and financial crimes, and that the subject area is a rapidly growing discipline in at least three domains: (1) professional practice, (2) education and certification, and (3) research and publication [8]. Building business confidence requires a strong corporate governance system to (a) reinforce the organization’s control systems, (b) provide an early mechanism for conflict resolution, and (c) engender a renewed awareness of reputational risk
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