This study intended to determine the disclosure levels of the CSR activities by banks in Botswana, to identify the types of information disclosed, and to determine the factors that influence the level of disclosure. The study used secondary data from the annual reports of the surveyed banks. The content analysis technique was employed and sentences that carried information relating to CSR were counted to arrive at the total of CSR reporting. Four themes of CSR, namely human resources, community involvement, environmental and ethical matters formed the bases for measuring level of CSR disclosure. The study found that a significant number of banks in Botswana are involved in CSR activities and report such engagements in annual reports. The findings of the study also suggest that the majority of banks engage extensively in and report their participation in community involvement and human resources activities. The results revealed that about two-thirds of variations in the CSR reporting levels could be explained by the combination of size, age and listing status. However, only size was found to have a positive significant relationship with CSR reporting levels. The implications of the study are that policy framework that addresses all CSR activities should be developed, and at micro level banks should come up with strategies for sustainable engagement in CSR and its disclosure.

The current study is borne out of an interest on the ethical views of accounting majors, as well as evaluating their perceptions on certain ethical behaviour. The study is timely since it was undertaken at a time when the University of Botswana's Accountancy degree curriculum had been reviewed and a course in ethics in accounting was introduced. The Attitudes Towards Business Ethics Questionnaire (ATBEQ) was distributed to students who had completed the ethics and auditing courses. Willing respondents were invited for focus group discussions in order to gain additional insight on respondents' views and ethical perceptions.The results of the current study were compared to the results of similar studies carried out in South Africa and Turkey. The findings of the study revealed that the mean average of the Botswana study was approximated by the South African results for some variables, and that there were isolated similarities with the Turkey findings. The results also indicated that an overwhelming number of respondents belief that business ethics can be taught, an encouraging result for a course in its infancy. It was however the qualitative results which, though limited, provided insight into the perceptions and thoughts of respondents on various aspects of ethical behaviour. Subsequently the study concluded that more concerted qualitative studies could provide further insight on the phenomenon and augment what has been learnt from the many quantitative studies.

This essay examines the diaries of Sir Charles F. Rey, Resident Commissioner of Bechuanaland, covering the years 1929-1937. The paper summarizes and reviews the accounting thoughts, activities and practices during a period of British colonial rule in Bechuanaland Protectorate. It illustrates early accounting and budgetary practices, as well as their role in influencing and shaping political and socio-economic development. The paper reveals that nuances of accounting history are contained in literary and archival documents, and that accounting practitioners and researchers should explore these scripts in order to understanding the introduction and development of accounting in the African continent. It further suggests that Sir Charles Rey’s memoirs show him to be a financial manager and administrator of note, albeit one who used financial management techniques to maintain control over natives, European businesses, and colonial administrators. This notwithstanding, this paper encourages researchers and practitioners to locate accounting history from such writings.

Audit activities form part of the key functions that enhance the reliability and validity of financial and non-financial information. One of the reporting processes investors and other stakeholders rely on when making decisions is the annual reports of enterprises which are a compilation of various reporting elements. Although internal auditors do not make direct disclosures in annual reports, many financial and non-financial disclosures are for audited items. Ultimately internally-audit activities and those of the external auditor are reflected in disclosures made by the internal audit function, the audit committee, and the external auditors themselves. The main objective of this study was to identify the levels of audit disclosure made in reference to the activities of IAFs, external auditor and the audit board committee, and to make comparisons therein between Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed companies. To uncover the extent of these disclosures the current study derived seventeen (17) mandatory or voluntary audit disclosure areas that were used to conduct text analysis and to determine disclosures made for a cross-country study of three companies, each from the areas of retail, banking and insurance selected from the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The study found that audit committees and internal audit functions dominated the disclosure of the audit-related variables, and that external auditors tend to confine their disclosure to areas concerned with presentation and qualification of financial statements. The study also found that companies listed in the JSE made more disclosures than their BSE counterparts, and that the retail sector made fewer disclosures as compared to the other two sectors. Furthermore, disclosures related to assessment and management risk as well as aspects of internal audit functions were the two most frequently disclosed variables in both geographic locations. The study goes on to recommend that future studies make more comparative studies by sector, geographic location, and to explore the use of a broader range of auditing variables.

No abstract