PwC exits operations in several African countries

PwC shut operations in nine Sub-Saharan African countries last month following a strategic review, the Big Four accounting firm said, in response to a media report that said the company exited more than a dozen countries to avoid scandals, reports BusinessLIVE. PwC, which operates as a global network of locally owned partnerships, has shut operations in the Ivory Coast, Gabon, Cameroon, Madagascar, Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo Congo Republic, Republic of Guinea and Equatorial Guinea, it said in a statement published on its website on 31 March. The accounting firm directed Reuters to the statement in response to queries about a Financial Times article, which said PwC had exited multiple countries that were deemed too small, risky or unprofitable. The decision came due to mounting differences with local partners, who said they lost more than a third of their business in recent years after pressure from PwC’s global executives to drop risky clients, the FT said, citing people familiar with the matter. The PwC statement did not give a reason for the move. The FT report, citing a register of PwC entities and local news reports, said PwC had also cut ties with member firms in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Fiji. PwC has faced an exodus of clientele and layoffs across countries since last year. Its mainland China unit was hit with a $62m fine and six-month suspension for audit failures related to property developer China Evergrande’s $78bn fraud. Last month, Britain fined PwC about $6m in relation to the audit of Wyelands Bank for the inancial year 2019. The firm is working with Saudi Arabia and its sovereign wealth fund to mend relations after the kingdom suspended activities between the $925bn fund’s holding company and PwC.

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