Liswaniso Namatama, Auditing Is a Human Business

A global summit can feel like a once-off highlight, but for Liswaniso Namatama it becomes a turning point. I’m joined by the Lusaka-based chartered accountant and auditor to talk about what changes when you walk into a room of 2,000 young leaders and realise every person has a story of impact. The biggest lesson he brings home is disarmingly simple: you don’t need to wait for the “right time” to start making a difference.

We dig into how those One Young World connections turn into a lasting network of chartered accountants across countries and cultures, and how that community mindset helps spark action back in Zambia. Liswaniso shares how meeting fellow accountant Dorica Chanda leads to Young Dream Radiators, a foundation focused on mentorship and outreach programmes for less fortunate communities. The goal is to show up consistently, build hope through real conversations, and give young people role models they can actually reach.

Then we get practical about the auditing profession. Liswaniso challenges the cliché that audit is only box ticking or fault finding, and explains what auditors really do: understand businesses, assess risk, apply professional judgement, and help organisations improve how they operate. We also tackle AI in audit, where automation speeds up analysis, but trust, interpretation, and human-to-human communication still decide whether findings land and changes happen.

If you’re exploring an accounting career, working in audit, or wondering how professional skills can drive social impact, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share it with a friend in finance, and leave a review with one thing you want people to understand about audit.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening to everybody as you dial in for another episode of Difference Makers Discuss. I'm still Sinead Donovan, but I am meeting with somebody new today. Liswaniso Namatama is a chart accountant from Zambia. And Niswaniso is this is our second time meeting Niswaniso as we continue to follow up where our young difference makers from a few years ago have gone to. Niswaniso was a one young world attendee in Belfast in 2022. And his journey since then has been nothing short of epic and life-changing. So I'm going to pass over now to Lesvaniso. Thank you very much for joining us from Zambia. Do you want to fill in the gaps there as to introduce yourself? I know you trained in KPMG, but um give us give us a bit of a uh a background as to your training and bring us up to date as to what you're doing today.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Thank you very much for that wonderful introduction. It's such a pleasure talking to you again. Um, so we met in uh Belfast, that was in 2023 at the One Young World Summit. So it's it's quite amazing. So, in terms of um introduction, as you indicated, I am based in Lusaka, Zambia. So I'm a chartered accountant. I studied the accountantcy program offered by the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants. So it's a wonderful program and it's opened many opportunities for me. So I'm currently working as an assistant manager with uh ActCore Accountants. So it's a local audit firm based here in Lusaka, Zambia.

One Young World Lessons

SPEAKER_00 1:59

So you came over to One Young World and tell me, I think that had quite a profound impact on you. Um tell me about your experience there and some of the people you met.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

So it was a very wonderful experience. It was mind-blowing. Um, I should say, I never thought I would have such an experience. So it was uh very great that I was part of that. So I met a very amazing team of chartered accountants from other countries. So these are people that were wonderful from the time I met them out there in Belfast to now. We still communicate with some of them as well as uh through the group that we created. So it was quite amazing, it was quite wonderful. So one young old had a very great impact on me. So I got to see the many amazing things that people out there are doing and creating an impact in the communities. So what I found truly astonishing is that um we had over 2,000 delegates and each from different regions, but they all had a story to tell. They all mentioned how they were creating impact in their respective communities. And one thing I think I would say that stood across was that they did not need to wait till a certain point to get started and create an impact. They simply got started and created impacts and are now just doing wonderful things in their communities. So that's something that I really learned and I got to love, and that's something that um I'm hoping or I am on my way doing as well. Just being a difference maker out there in our communities.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

And I think you are being a difference maker because um Liswano, if I'm not if I'm not wrong, you met with another fellow chart accountant there in Belfast, and between you, you've both set up a uh an entity or a community which is helping some of the um not so fortunate in your own um country there. Is that right?

SPEAKER_01 4:04

Yes, that's uh that's right. So I had um it's through this opportunity that I had um the chance of meeting a fellow chattered accountant by the name of Dorica Chanda. So she was at the Wanya Mode Summit in 2022. So she's uh very passionate about creating change and impact, um, mainly because of uh I think the lessons that we learned from One Young Odd. So she set up a foundation known as Young Dream Radiators, which I'm a part of. And um the purpose of this foundation is to provide mentorship to young people through community-based programs. And it's um very exciting that I'm part of this foundation. So the foundation is still currently in its startup phase, but we hope to launch up soon so that we can have more outreach and more activities out there.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

And can you tell me some of the things you're doing there, um Liz Vaniso, and what impact it's having on the communities?

SPEAKER_01 5:04

So the main thing is uh outreach programs. So this is where we visit the less fortunate communities and get to interact with um the people there. So the whole idea is just to show that um they are not alone. They are people that um they can interact with and look up to as well. So that's something that's very amazing and can create very wonderful impact in these communities.

Why Audit Matters

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Fantastic. Well, congratulations to you, and isn't it lovely that that all started with uh the one one young world and and and the community that you you met there it? I I talk about the family of accountants, and um that really is an example of how the family of accountants can come together and and make good change for those around them. Um tell me a little bit. You're you you said you're in an auditing firm there in Zambia. Um I I know you're passionate about auditing. Tell me a bit about what you like so much about the auditing profession. Because I'm with you. I'm with you. I was an auditor for for years and years and and and I I liked it.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Okay, thank you. So I'm very passionate when it comes to audits. I've been auditing for over six years now. So um, one thing I love about audit is that um, and let me first of all start with um certain misconceptions that people have about audit, which is uh that it's you know all about number crunching, uh ticking boxes or fault finding. But I'm here to say it's that's not the case, that's not the picture of audit. So audit is um bigger than that, and the bigger picture is that um audit is about understanding businesses, it's about assessing risks, it's about professional judgment as well as helping organizations improve how they operate. So, as an auditor, one of the best things about audit is that um it gives you an opportunity to understand how businesses operate. And in this case, you tend to work with different uh businesses in different industries. And because of that, you get an overall understanding of how things operate out there. So at one point you can be working with a non-governmental organization, the next thing you're working with either a mining or in this case a manufacturing organization. So there's um that learning that you you tend to do in audit. And um part of audit is um we tend to interact a lot with management and other key stuff in an organization. So you get to learn, exchange ideas, and that's also part of networking because um those are contracts that are being created, and you can always communicate with these people outside there. So it really lays a strong foundation in terms of career, because um, like I've said, um, it's very diverse in terms of industries that um one works with. Um I think that's the beauty of audit.

AI Tools And Human Judgement

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Yeah, and you put it really well there. So there's probably two two key things that you you pulled out there. One was the ability to audit so many different sectors and and um industries um with the with the one with the one common through training. And I think that's fascinating. I I love that as well. But also it's the meeting of people, and and I think that's something that that we really should should drill drill down on. There still is a huge amount of human-to-human interaction in the auditing profession and the need to meet with clients and interpret their find, you know, the findings and their their commentary. Um I know it's I know it's supplemented by AI techniques, but talk to me a little bit about that importance of human-to-human um skills.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

That's something that's uh very important, the human-to-human skills. I know we've got um AI that has come in, and um, with AI, you're able to perform some routine transactions, as well as just some analysis of large sets of data and um all that, and you're able to produce reports more promptly because of the use of AI. But then there's certain aspects such as the human-to-human interaction, which is very important, and that's something that's key in audit. So, apart from the normal analysis that we do as well as the producing of reports, there are aspects such as um professional judgment, which is very important, and um, this can only be done by interacting with the with client, with management, because it's from such that one is able to assess. Then there are also other aspects of risks that can only be assessed by interacting with the client directly, as opposed to relying on AI, as well as um in terms of communicating our findings, as well as um, so that's something that's also very key. And um it's better when it's human-to-human interaction that you sit uh with management and go through some of these things and just explain to them at times they might have some questions or need, you know, proper understanding, and we're simply there to communicate this to them.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

Brilliant, brilliant. And uh Liswaniso, as I speak to you, I I I'm beginning to realize, you know, how central accountancy has been in in your in your in your life. I mean, your your your training, but then the you know, the attendance in Belfast at the One Young World, which has led you into this social um economic venture that you're doing to help others and and and the passion for auditing, it it really has been quite central to your development. What do you think is next for you, or where do you hope to go?

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Okay, that's good. Indeed, it's something that has been very central for me. I think um from a young age, it's something that I really wanted to do. I've always been passionate about accounting, and um, I've never thought of doing anything else other than accounting. And I'm really glad that it's something that I've achieved and actualized as an accountant now, chartered accountant, and working in the audit industry. So, in terms of um what makes, I think overall I would say I would still want to be in the accounting space and continue growing in this uh particular space because um it's something that has opened a lot of opportunities, a lot of doors for me. And I would like to just stick to this as well as inspire the next generation of accountants as well. They are people who see what I'm doing and look up to what I'm doing. So I think that's something that's very critical for me, and seeing how best we can just improve the accounting industry overall.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Okay, and I and I know that people will be listening to this and and indeed looking up to you and and at the you know the the achievements that you've made um in the accounting profession. Umswanu, if you were to summarize accountancy or the profession in in three words, it's a bit mean of a question, but in three words, how would you do it um to encourage others to join the profession?

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Accounting is extremely amazing. I'll make it into two words. It's extremely amazing.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

I like that. Snaid, I'll take the challenge and I'll do it better.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

Yes, and I would advise anyone who's thinking about accounting to just go ahead with it. Trust me, they will not regret that decision. It's a brilliant decision I made.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

Brilliant. And look, your passion shines through in the way you talk about it. And I want to wish you all the best for the future, and I want to congratulate you in what you're doing. Um, what you are doing in your home country there in Zambia to help those that are slightly less um fortunate um than you is truly amazing. And I think it shows the the values that accountancy has and the values that it instills in in people. So, congratulations and well done. Lovely to talk to you, and I'm hoping I'm wishing you all the best for the the coming years, and I hope our paths cross again soon.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

Thank you very much as well. It's been such a lovely conversation, and I do hope we cross paths soon.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

Absolutely. And thank you to all of the listeners who have joined us today. I hope you've enjoyed this episode. Um, we do have another few episodes in the series of Difference Makers Discuss, and I look forward to meeting some fellow church accountants from across the globe very shortly. Take care. Goodbye.