The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) have officially confirmed that the 23rd World Congress of Accountants (WCOA 2028) will take place in Cape Town in November 2028. The decision — historically unprecedented for our profession — opens new horizons of substantive participation for the professional community across Eurasia and the broader Global South.
The announcement was made in the run-up to WCOA 2026 in Seoul, which will be held from 17 to 19 November 2026, co-hosted by the Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants (KICPA) and IFAC. According to the official press release from IFAC and SAICA, the Cape Town gathering will be the first time in the 124-year history of the event that the flagship congress of the global accountancy profession is convened on the African continent.
The historic significance of this choice
The World Congress of Accountants has been held under the auspices of IFAC since 1904, with the inaugural event in St. Louis (United States). Since then, the Congress has been hosted in major business capitals: Rome, Kuala Lumpur, Istanbul, Sydney, and Mumbai. Bringing the event to the African continent is far more than a geographic shift. It is a structural acknowledgement that the professional voice of Africa, of emerging markets, and of the Global South belongs in the rooms where standards, regulation, and the future of the profession are shaped.
This is not merely a geographic shift — it is a deliberate act of inclusion. The profession becomes truly global
For the members of EICPA — the association uniting the institutes of certified public accountants of the Eurasian region — this decision carries a twofold significance. First, Cape Town is substantially more accessible in terms of visa frameworks, air connectivity and travel logistics for a significant share of our professionals, particularly those who have historically faced difficulties participating in events held in traditional Western capitals. Second, the Congress agenda — sustainability, trust, and ethical leadership — resonates directly with the strategic priorities for developing the profession across Eurasia.
Voices of the co-hosts
Cape Town is a dynamic, diverse and globally connected city, an outstanding choice for WCOA 2028.” The IFAC chief executive further described the event as one designed to spotlight the profession’s role in driving trust, sustainability and innovation across an increasingly complex global landscape.
SAICA’s CEO described the win as “a validation of our standing as a professional body” deeply committed to serving the public interest, and as a powerful affirmation of South Africa’s appeal as a premier destination for global business, tourism and investment.
A continuous presence at WCOA
Cape Town 2028 is not a debut for EICPA. The Association and its founding member organisations have built a sustained record of participation in successive World Congresses of Accountants — a record that has taken shape systematically over nearly two decades, and which today forms a documented part of the Association’s institutional history.
The region’s active engagement on the international stage began to crystallise even before the Association’s formal establishment — at the Congresses in Kuala Lumpur (WCOA 2010) and Rome (WCOA 2014), where the founding institutes presented the Eurasian professional region in a consolidated form on the profession’s global platform for the first time.
WCOA 2018 in Sydney marked the transition to the role of an active contributor to the global agenda. EICPA served as an official sponsor of the Congress; the Association’s exhibition was a central element of the regional showcase on a platform that drew more than 5,000 delegates from around the world. On that stage EICPA presented its updated regional qualification framework and digital certificates verifiable through blockchain technology. Of equal significance — it was on the sidelines of WCOA 2018 that the Eurasian Regional Group Accountancy Eurasia (ERGAA) was initiated, with the founding resolution signed by leading audit and accountancy organisations from eleven countries.
2022
Mumbai · India · WCOA
For the first time in the history of the World Congress of Accountants, the proceedings were broadcast in the Russian language. EICPA, together with leading professional audit organisations of the region, sponsored Russian-language simultaneous interpretation — extending access for the 6,000-strong Congress audience and the wider Eurasian professional community to the global agenda in one of the principal languages of business communication across the region.
This contribution carries strategic significance well beyond the event itself: it set a precedent for the institutional recognition of Russian as a working medium of access to the global professional agenda — and at the same time confirmed EICPA’s capacity to consolidate the resources of regional organisations to deliver outcomes of international scale.
In this light, Cape Town 2028 represents a logical continuation of a mature strategy of institutional participation by EICPA in shaping the global professional agenda. A detailed chronology of the Association’s engagement in international events is available on the official EICPA history page.
Voices from EICPA and its member organisations
We view the decision by IFAC and SAICA to bring the Congress to the African continent not only as a professional event, but as a signal of maturity for the global profession. EICPA stands ready to support this choice with the full resources of the Association — from methodological support for our members to the formation of a consolidated Eurasian delegation. Our experience of participation in WCOA in Sydney and Mumbai shows that the region’s professional community is capable of making a substantive contribution to the global agenda. Cape Town 2028 will be the next stage of this work.
The sustainability agenda that will take centre stage in Cape Town is not a passing fashion — it is a structural challenge for the entire profession. The implementation of ISSB standards — IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 — across Eurasian jurisdictions demands systematic work from us today. EICPA and the Eurasian Regional Partnership on ESG and Sustainability Reporting are preparing the region to arrive at the 2028 Congress not as an observer, but as a full participant in the global dialogue on climate and social reporting.
The World Congress of Accountants is, above all, infrastructure for the international recognition of the profession. For specialists across the Eurasian region, participation in WCOA 2028 means direct engagement in the dialogue on cross-border mobility of qualifications, mutual recognition of credentials and consistent standards of professional preparation. My experience with CPA Canada and CMA convinces me that sustainable international recognition is only possible where regional associations invest consistently in the infrastructure of that dialogue. Cape Town will provide precisely that opportunity.
For the member organisations of EICPA, and for OBA Kyrgyzstan in particular, the decision to hold WCOA 2028 in Cape Town represents a practical expansion of access for national institutes to the global professional agenda. Our cooperation with EICPA Association — including the Association’s sponsorship of the Russian-language interpretation at WCOA 2022 in Mumbai — clearly demonstrated how critical it is for our specialists to receive expert knowledge in a language that enables genuine professional comprehension. We expect Cape Town to continue this inclusive tradition and to provide professionals from Kyrgyzstan and across Central Asia with a direct channel to global standards and the best practices of the profession.
Recent congresses by geography
What it means for Eurasia
EICPA’s strategic agenda for 2026–2028 is built around three priorities, each of which connects directly with the anticipated thematic focus of the Congress:
- Implementation of sustainability standards (ISSB) — preparing member institutes for the adoption of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 across regional jurisdictions.
- Ethical infrastructure of the profession — strengthening independence regimes, quality management and professional scepticism in audit practice.
- Accessibility of education and mutual recognition of qualifications — expanding professional certification programmes and their international recognition.
In this context, EICPA is planning a structured programme of preparatory activity for 2026–2028: a series of research publications, regional forums, and the formation of a consolidated Eurasian delegation capable of bringing a substantive position to the key agenda items of the Congress.
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Direct dialogue with global regulators
WCOA is more than a conference. From 2026 onwards, the Congress moves to a biennial format and positions itself as the leadership forum of the profession: its audience consists of the leadership of Professional Accountancy Organisations (PAOs), the international firms, the standard-setting bodies (IAASB, IESBA, IPSASB, ISSB), regulators, and senior representatives of multilateral institutions. The presence of a Eurasian delegation in this environment is a unique opportunity to convey the region’s position directly on the questions that will shape the professional landscape for the decade to come.
The EICPA position
EICPA Association welcomes the decision by IFAC and SAICA as a mature and forward-looking step, reflecting the genuinely global character of the accountancy profession. The Association has addressed formal letters of congratulation to Ms. Patricia Stock and Mr. Lee White, expressing its readiness for constructive cooperation in the lead-up to the Congress.
We call upon the professional institutes within the EICPA membership to begin, without delay, the work of assembling delegations, research contributions and thematic proposals that will enable our region to make a substantive contribution to the work of the Congress in 2028. EICPA, for its part, will provide the coordination, methodological support, and communications infrastructure necessary to sustain this effort.
Cape Town 2028 is a window of opportunity. How prepared and how coordinated the Eurasian profession will be when stepping through that window will determine our voice in the global agenda of the coming decade.