Anne Eriksson, the first African female head of consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in the region has retired from the company after 40 years of service, the Daily Nation reports.
Ms Eriksson headed PwC’s operations in six African countries over the past six years.
PwC has appointed Peter Ngahu, an insider, as the incoming regional senior partner and country senior partner for Kenya.
Mr Ngahu has been the regional and Kenya leader of PwC’s Assurance line of service as well as a member of PwC’s regional leadership team.
Mr Ngahu has been with PwC for 25 years, with 14 of them as a partner in audit and assurance services.
“PwC announces the retirement of Anne Eriksson, effective 30 June 2018. Anne will retire from the firm after 40 years of service to clients, 30 of them as a partner,” said the firm in a statement Monday.
Ms Eriksson, an alumnus of the UK University of Warwick and Alliance Girls High School, has held various leadership roles during her lengthy career with PwC.
For the past six years, she has been the regional senior partner for PwC’s regional network of firms in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, Mauritius and Kenya and also the country senior partner for PwC Kenya overseeing 1,500 employees, including 49 partners.
“I am confident that Anne is leaving a firm and a network that is stronger for her leadership, and that Peter will contribute to and guide our success in Africa through his own unique contributions,” said said Hein Boegman, Territory Senior Partner, PwC Africa.
Despite her illustrious career to the top marked by accolades, Ms Ericksson also leaves PwC with a blot on her track record.
In 2015 the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) said it was pursuing the consultancy firm over the Sh879.1 million accounting fraud at the Nairobi-based manufacturing firm Haco Tiger Brands exposed by South Africa’s Tiger Brands, the former majority owner of Haco.
ICPAK said then the investigations were to find out whether PwC’s opinion on Haco’s finances was in step “with professional standards.”
The Haco accounting scandal came nearly 10 years after the firm found itself in a tight spot over the 2006 collapse of Uchumi Supermarkets.
