A growing and vibrant economy. A service outsourcing juggernaut and a nation with a proud culture and history. That's what CIBA delegates experienced during their visit to the 21st World Congress of Accountants in India last month.

Mumbai is a city of over 20 million people perched on a bustling peninsula in northern India. When professionals from across the globe assembled there last month for the 21st World Congress of Accountants hosted by the International Federation of Accountants, they picked an apt location. 

India will soon become the world's most populous nation. By 2050, it's set to become the second largest in the world by 2050, eclipsing the US. CIBA’s delegation to the conference shared their insights on the up and coming superpower. 

India knows what it wants (what it really, really wants)

"There was an overt awareness from the Indians that they're busy becoming one of the largest economies in the world, and that they're lifting millions out of poverty," says Nicolaas van Wyk, the CEO of CIBA.

The main takeaway from Lee-Anne Germanos, a non-executive director at CIBA was, "A reinforcement that South Africa is far behind the rest of the world. I think we're arrogant in believing that we are just a level above the rest of Africa and the rest of the developing world. And I think that close-mindedness and arrogance result in us being left in the dust."

Van Wyk gives an example of how the Indian accounting firms he spoke to were eager to expand internationally because their Prime Minister had set a target for how much the services sector needed to grow by to support their GDP.

"This is in contrast to South Africa and our laid-back way of doing things. On the one hand, you're standing in awe (of India), but on the other, you're kind of scared. Our government and businesses are not coordinated in any way. We have a national development plan. That's good. But how does that relate to the different players within the economic sector?

Excellent customer service is something you can sell and export    

"From the people in the hotel to the people hosting the conference, they just focused on service," explains van Wyk. Friendliness forms part of Indian business strategy. 

"One thing I would love Africans to implement is that they should get paid for whatever service they provide," says Elizabeth Simon, CIBA's country representative in Namibia. 

Simon recalls needing to charge her power bank at a hotel she wasn't staying at. The staff happily charged the power bank, but later asked for a small fee.

She decided to run an experiment. Simon took a bus on her return journey from India (via South Africa) to Namibia. Simon asked staff to charge her power bank at a service station en route.

"They didn't ask for anything. I said, 'Let me just give you something to say thank you.’ There is a need to give gratitude because we should be able to assist and encourage one another.”  

On a larger scale, Indian firms happily promote their service excellence as a global commodity. Van Wyk recalls the huge exhibit area at the conference filled with accounting firms. "They're all into outsourcing and advisory services, and each one is expanding internationally."

This approach could be an opportunity for South Africans. 

"I think we're in a pretty good position to sell services ourselves, and Covid proved that," says Germanos. "I think there was a shift to using South African-based services because of the time zones. I'm not sure if we've capitalised on that, but if we're smart, we would have."

Anyone can be an entrepreneur in India 

It's not just large accounting firms that show entrepreneurial spirit. The delegates recall a tour that passed through poorer parts of Mumbai. The delegation came across a business where residents washed linen for hotels and hospitals by hand in large water-filled pits. "They wash and dry the clothes, put them in a container on the back of a bicycle or a motorbike, and then deliver them to the hotels," explains van Wyk. 

"Here in Namibia, we will have to hire a bigger company that's probably already making good money and leave out the poor," says Simon. 

Simon believes that to pull informal businesses into the formal supply chain, requirements need to be eased.

The unemployment rate in Maharashtra (the state Mumbai falls under) is around 4 percent. Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises contribute to 27% of India's GDP, 50% of its exports and employ 111 million people. In South Africa, the informal economy contributes around 5 percent of GDP.

CIBA hopes to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and continue exchanging knowledge.