Africa’s demand for chartered financial analysts on the rise

In Kenya, 140 and 23 candidates enrolled for Levels II and III, up from 74 and 17 last year respectively.

Though the institute limits information on pass rates by region and country, it said that 1,533 candidates from South Africa passed various exams this year, up from 1,318 last year.

“The programme is very demanding, it has a wide curriculum that requires a lot of sacrifice,” said Peter Wachira, a CFA certificate holder and senior investment manager at Pine Bridge East Africa Limited.

The exam is rigorous with candidates having to study for as many as nine topics and failing one level means waiting till the following year for Levels II and III.

To enroll for the programme, candidates must be either university graduates or people who have worked for up to five years in the financial field.

The CFA Institute recommends that one has to read for a minimum of 200 to 300 hours to master the material.

Then there is the financial side to it. Level I costs between $1,020 and $1,040, with Level II and III fees ranging between $600 and $900. Other costs relate to reading materials.

Rising incomes

Denis Imonje, who passed Level III exams, told Business Daily: “There is a market for CFA certificate holders as incomes are rising and the industry becomes more sophisticated. The exams expose you to ethics which is key in business as we recently saw with the global financial crisis.” Mr Imonje added: “You also get to see how derivatives work and the curriculum is relevant in that it tends to evolve with current issues.”

Amish Gupta, a director at Standard Investment Bank, said CFA certificate holders will in future be in high demand.

Opportunities for CFA graduates are also available in private equity, real estate, and education fields.

But graduates from the school said there were no shortcuts, adding that consistent reading and sitting for exams, repeatedly in case of failure, were the only routes to success.

Some certificate holders include Centum Investment Company MD James Mworia, and Nairobi Stock Exchange chief executive Peter Mwangi.

The CFA Institute expects that majority of the 9,880 candidates who passed Level III exams will become “charter holders” later this year if they have the required work experience.