Ismaila M. Zakari qualified as a Chartered Accountant 31 years ago. For the past 24 years, he has earned a living entirely from working as a Partner at Ahmed Zakari & Co. (Chartered Accountants) - a leading indigenous Small & Medium-Sized Accountancy Practice firm he co-founded with other professional colleagues in 1998. He is currently the Managing Partner of the firm.
As Managing Partner, Ismaila is responsible for providing leadership and strategic direction to a resourceful team of more than 50, mostly Y-Generation professionals specializing in helping clients - mainly SMEs, listed entities, public sector, and Not-for-Profit organizations to achieve their business goals by providing high-quality accounting, audit & assurance, tax, insolvency, Islamic finance, and consulting service engagements.
Quality in auditing and financial reporting is at the heart of Ismaila’s daily work, and he is keen to help build trust in the profession and ensure that quality is maintained through continuous improvement. He believes that high-quality auditing, financial reporting, sustainability disclosure, and assurance standards are at the core of building strong economies and institutions and are essential to raising standards of living and prosperity of the citizenry.
Ismaila’s lifetime passion and dedication have been to serve the global accountancy profession. Over the past 21 years, he has made modest contributions as a volunteer. At the peak of his voluntary services to the global profession, he was elected in November 2019 to serve on the Board of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) - the global organization for the Accountancy profession comprising 175 members and associates from over 130 countries and jurisdictions. On 15 November 2022, Ismaila was re-elected to serve on the IFAC Board for a second term of 3 years (2023-2025).
As an IFAC Board Member, representing the Africa/Middle-East Region, Ismaila’s role is to serve the public interest, bringing his unique SMP and developing economy perspectives to the work of shaping IFAC strategy at the highest level, tackling diverse emerging challenges facing the profession, and enhancing the relevance and reputation of professional accountants around the world. Ismaila has served on IFAC Planning and Finance Committee (2021) and now serves as Member of IFAC Human Resources and Compensation Committee (2023) and Chair of IFAC Membership Committee (2023). He was also a member of IFAC Audit Committee (2020) and a Technical Advisor (TA) on IFAC Small and Medium Practices Committee (SMPC) from 2014 to 2017.
Prior to his work on the IFAC Board, Ismaila served as President and Chairman of the Governing Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) from 2017 to 2018. He also served as Member of ICAN Governing Council for 15 years from 2004 - 2019. In this role, he was involved in diverse areas of the Accounting profession and served as Chairman on numerous ICAN Committees and Taskforces including Professional Examinations, Finance & General Purposes, Membership Affairs, Professional Practice Monitoring, Members’ Continuing Professional Education, Students Development, Professional Ethics, Accountants’ Investigating Panel, and Accountants’ Disciplinary Tribunal.
Ismaila also served the Accounting profession at the continental and regional levels, having been a Board Member of the Pan-African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) based in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 2017 to 2018, Council Member and Honorary Treasurer of the Association of Accountancy Bodies in West Africa (ABWA) from 2016 to 2018, Technical Advisor (TA) to PAFA Board from 2016 to 2017, and Technical Advisor (TA) to IFAC Small and Medium Practices Committee (SMPC) from 2014 to 2017.
In addition, he is also an active Member of the Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN), where he served as Council Member for a number of years. Ismaila was appointed in 2018 by Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and continues to serve on the Adhoc Tax Advisory Committee of the Tax Appeal Tribunal with the mandate of carrying out periodic independent review, making submissions, and recommendations to the Government on matters relating to tax law administration, tax practice, and the tax appeal process.
He was a member of the Statutory Audit Committee of Diamond Bank Plc for a number of years prior to the Bank’s takeover by Access Bank Plc. He currently serves as a Non-Executive Director of Noor Takaful Insurance Company Limited and chairs its Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee.
Ismaila was elected as 2nd Deputy President of the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) for 2020/2022 and has just recently been elected as its 1st Deputy President for 2022/2024. Beyond professional life, Ismaila spends a lot of his time and efforts on mentoring and creating awareness among young Nigerian students and graduates, particularly those living in the Northern States, about the benefits of becoming Chartered Accountants. He also enjoys reading and traveling and retains a keen interest in sports, albeit increasingly passively. Ismaila is happily married and has been blessed with four lovely children.