From his early days at school, Richard's dream was always to become an accountant. 'My passion for numbers and the prospect of a demanding, exciting and challenging career made me realise accountancy was my perfect career path.' he says.

As to why he chose the ACCA Qualification, Richard continues: 'I believed it would give me a combination of appropriate skills, professional recognition and confidence.'

The wide range of subjects covered in the syllabus has enabled Richard to adapt to different working environments throughout his career: 'Since I qualified, I have worked in the mining industry, capital markets and financial markets. All these are highly specialised but I have had no difficulty adapting.'

Richard's current role, chief executive officer of Intermarket Banking Corporation (Zambia) Limited, provides him with his most significant achievement to date: 'Becoming CEO before the age of 40 has seen me partially realise my dream well ahead of time!'