Ayla Majid, the CEO of a Pakistan-based firm that advises on decarbonisation, sustainability, and energy transition, has been elected president of the leading global accountancy body, ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). She becomes the first person from Pakistan to be elected to the role.
Ayla Majid will lead more than 252,500 members and 526,000 future members of ACCA across 180 countries during her year-long term of office. She takes up the role in the year in which ACCA celebrates a major landmark of exceeding a quarter of a million members and will also celebrate its 120th anniversary.
Ayla Majid achieved this presidential milestone after joining the accountancy body in 2006. Currently founder and CEO of Planetive Middle East and Islamabad-based Planetive Pakistan, Ayla Majid has more 20 years of experience in energy, transaction advisory, mergers and acquisitions, investments and corporate governance.
In addition to extensive business experience, Ayla is an international speaker on energy, decarbonisation, hydrogen, and climate tech with an emerging market lens. In addition to being an advocate of sustainability, Ayla has over 15 years of governance experience, having served on boards and chaired companies in the energy, pharmaceutical, engineering, and banking sectors.
She said: ‘I would like to thank ACCA members for trusting me. The themes I wish to highlight in the coming months can be summarised under the broad heading: ‘A new future for accountancy with a strategic lens and a stakeholder approach’.
‘The accountancy profession is dynamic, forward-looking, and endlessly evolving. We’re working to promote it as an exciting, purposeful and attractive career choice, embracing sustainability and social value. I look forward to speaking about how the role of the accountants is widening and working to update perceptions of the profession in the age where technology is a dominant player.’
‘When ACCA was founded in 1904, nobody could have predicted how much we’d achieve. Our story has been one of innovation and growth. I’m proud of how we are leaders in embedding ethical practice in the profession and the wider business community while working alongside our multifaceted stakeholder group.’
In addition to her ACCA work, Ayla Majid is a member of the Global Future Council of Energy of the World Economic Forum (WEF), a Young Global Leader of the WEF, and an Eisenhower Fellow.
In addition to ACCA qualification, she holds MBA degree from Lahore University of Management Sciences and LLB (Hons) from the University of London. She has also attended leadership modules at Harvard, Oxford and Princeton Universities.
Ayla Majid is joined in the leadership of ACCA’s global governing Council by fellow officers – deputy president Melanie Proffitt, from England, who is CFO of Farncombe Estate, a hotels group in the Cotswolds; and vice-president Datuk Zaiton Mohd Hassan from Malaysia, chief executive officer of the Malaysia Professional Accountancy Centre (MyPAC), which aims to help students from poorer backgrounds find careers in finance.
This is the first time in ACCA’s history that women have held all three officer posts simultaneously.
She takes over the presidential role from Ronnie Patton, a retired lecturer from Northern Ireland, to whom she paid tribute to his strength and for his inspirational leadership during his year in office.
