Executive Summary
Policy Goal: Transform 30% of ICAG members into active entrepreneurs within five years, reducing professional unemployment and creating sustainable economic opportunities across Ghana by 2030. The Challenge: Ghanaian chartered accountants possess strong fiancial expertise yet exhibit low entrepreneurial participation despite rising unemployment. A critical knowledge-action gap prevents capable professionals from translating intentions into business creation, limiting job creation while traditional employment fails to absorb qualifid accountants. Key Finding: Empirical analysis of 485 ICAG members using hierarchical regression
models reveals mindset as the primary driver of entrepreneurial interest, with attitudes exerting strongest inflence on intentions. A substantial confience gap limits action despite strong interest, where professional capability perceptions fall signifiantly
below entrepreneurial aspirations. Contextual inflences including client exposure and role models operate indirectly through psychological pathways rather than direct effcts. Professional identity demonstrates compatibility with entrepreneurship, while
innovation orientation plays minimal role, indicating accounting entrepreneurship is driven by service excellence rather than disruptive innovation.
Strategic Recommendation:
• Cultural Transformation: Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards and success story showcases repositioning entrepreneurship as natural career evolution
• Capability Building: Elective CPD pathway, practice toolkits, and risk management training through existing structures
• Strategic Partnerships: MOUs with GEA, NEIP, NBSSI, and Mastercard Foundation providing access to existing support programs
• Experiential Learning: Learning journals and case study workshops maximizing client exposure Expected Impact: These mandate-aligned, low-cost interventions address psychological barriers preventing business creation, converting unemployed accountants into job creators without requiring new infrastructure beyond ICAG’s professional development mandate.
