We have many chances to grow and promote as an accountant in Baridi Baridi--James Shukurani 【Baridi Baridi employee interview vol.9】

This time, we interviewed James Shukurani, our Accounting leader in Baridi Baridi Tanzania.

Baridi Baridi members appearing in this interview

James Shukurani
Learned about accounting at Tanzania Institute of Accountancy. Joined TANESCO as an assistant accountant after graduating. Joined Baridi Baridi as an accountant in 2021. From January 2022, assigned as an Accounting Leader.

Shuto Sakai (Interviewer/Editor)
Currently a graduate student at Kobe University. Joined Baridi Baridi as an intern in October 2020. Experienced working as an intern at Baridi Baridi Tanzania from August to October 2021. 

We have many chances to grow and promote as an accountant in Baridi Baridi

--Let's start. But first, please tell me about yourself.

James: Okay. My name is James Shukurani, and I am an accountant in Baridi Baridi right now.

--I want to ask about you before joining Baridi Baridi. What did you do for your job?

James: Before joining Baridi Baridi, I worked for several companies. The main one is TANESCO. I worked as a contract worker there for four years. Specifically, the task was the reconciliation of some of the customer’s accounts. 

In the first two years, I was an assistant accountant at TANESCO. I did reconciliation while being under the district accountant. And later, I got promoted to an accountant.

After that I transferred to a private company in Kahama, Shinyanga. They're like wholesalers. I worked for eight years before joining Baridi Baridi.

--I see. Have you ever aimed to get a certificate in accounting?

James: Yeah. But unfortunately, I don't have it. I only have a university degree. That is what we call Certified Public Accountant Tanzania CPA(T). It's a certificate given to an accountant after we finish a degree or some level, we must take some exams. 

On my side, I could not take the exams because mostly I was posted in Rufuji, which is out of Dar es Salaam. It is 160 kilometers away from Dar es Salaam. So, I didn't get a chance to take exams. I just have a degree, but I'm planning on taking exams.

In next year (2022), I'm starting to prepare for 16 exams. (The exam consists of 3 levels, and each level has 4-6 exams)

--Why did you decide to join Baridi Baridi?

James: Okay. At first, my fiancé told me about Baridi Baridi. She saw the recruitment about wanting an accountant. She wanted me to move to Dar es Salaam to be close because I was in Kahama. With this background, she found Baridi Baridi searching for a job.

I knew the business model and felt that this was a new thing. I wanted to experience something by joining this.

--What did you expect mostly from Baridi Baridi?

James: The first point is getting a chance to work with various people. Next is an environment where I get a chance of being an accountant.

Now I'm an accountant leader. The position has changed. I have more responsibilities. I mean, I can see myself growing from Baridi Baridi. I can be proud that I'm an accountant of Baridi Baridi.

After joining Baridi Baridi, I found that evaluations are done twice every year. That means you have a chance of growing two times in a year. That is very rare in Tanzania. You have to wait until later to ask for a raise in other places. 

Attitudes of learning in the accounting team

--Your efforts made you a responsible position. What is an important thing for you to be an accountant leader?

James: The most important thing is training. I mean, training others and myself to gain new knowledge and sharing knowledge. For example, when I joined, I met Queen. 

She was not an accountant and didn't know anything about accounting. So, we started studying little by little. Now she's improving to the point where she can teach something to another person.

I think Baridi Baridi is different from other companies. In my experience, people don't share knowledge. In some places, if people want to know knowledge, they need to learn by themselves.

That's how employees get promoted. You must share and teach each other here. The leader’s main task is to train yourself and others and learn from others. I mean, I don't know everything. So, I learned from others, and. they learn from me.

--I understand your team teaches each other.

James: Yes. By the way, I used to wish to be a teacher. But because my dad discouraged me from that profession and one of my cousins is an accountant, , I became an accountant.

--What is the atmosphere of your team like?

James: The atmosphere and the environment are good. The most important thing, as an accountant, is just to be honest. Because we are human, sometimes people make mistakes. 

We must admit, and we must like to be honest to ourselves. So, we learn from our mistakes and then move on to the next, which we can’t repeat. We can do these things in the accountant team, so the environment is good. Also, the director is a good boss.

--Okay. The next question is, what things did you learn from your director?

James: What I've learned from her is the attitude as a businessperson.
When I first joined the company, I would ask her for her opinion. She said many times, “What's your opinion?” “What would I do in your position?” “How could you solve it?”

So, I learned that I must have some options and prepare for possible questions before going to her. At first, it was a bit hard.

That's how I learned every time. She gave me challenging tasks. So, I go out to find and learn from what she's given.

--I see.

James: Other than thinking to myself, I don't think it's that difficult. Because most accounting things are just routine, there are principles, so if we follow those principles, we can do our job.

So, she did a good job. I think she's delegating things. She doesn’t think, “I have to do everything.” She asks her team as a director. We don’t feel like having boring tasks every day through her tasks. Even if we do the same thing, we are getting new experience and our team is motivated.

--Nice. Currently, how do you feel about becoming a responsible position?

James: I feel good. But you know, to have a career ladder, like to grow, is very difficult. I need to grow every day, even if the task is routine work. We need to be a different person from yesterday.

I keep learning and growing with the team

--About the accountant job. What is the most exciting point? When I was in business administration in Japan, I couldn't get interested in accounting because I was bored.

James: For me when I close the book, or when everything in the book is balanced, and the balance is exactly right, I feel pleased.

Actually, I didn’t take an accounting class until taking a course at the university. From studying, I found that the balance of the book is fresh.

--I see. When I goback to Japan, I will try studying accounting. (Editor’s note: later gets certified in accounting)

--So, when did you come up with studying accounting?

James: When I needed to choose which faculty I wanted to enter. As I said, I wished to be a teacher. But in Tanzania, a teacher may not make a living.

When I finished my A level, I applied for a different faculty, but we did not have to choose. As a finishing elite we had to choose. I wanted to be first and wanted to be a teacher, but teaching jobs in cannot make a living in Tanzania. 

My brother, an accountant, recommended to me, “How is accounting? Most probably, it's not that hard.” Then I decided to try, although my dad is an electrician and he wanted me to be a teacher.

--Do you have any goals for the near future?

James: I honestly am not thinking of anything, just getting an accountant certificate. As a team, we will need internal auditing and financing from different departments.

So, I want to get more chances and grow. but also, as an accounting leader, I want to learn other stuff. I don't want to be all about accounting, maybe finance, planning, or budgeting.

That's what I'm planning. It's challenging and uncomfortable, but it's a good thing to learn.

Also, I hope each member of the current team is growing. I think others will become an accounting leader when I get another position. I think that's the way a team should be.

--Nice. By the way, congratulations on your marriage!

James: Thank you.

--Has there been any changes?

James: I don't think I've changed in any specific way compared to before we got married, but I think I've become more committed. We will be able to do a lot more together in the future. So, yeah, but nothing changed so much.

--You are in the process of gradually coming up with a plan, right?

James: Yes. Now, for example, she is working as a pharmacist, and she also wants to study more. It means getting a master's degree.

-- Nice! Thank you for having time! Are there any comments for our staff?

James: Okay, I'm just saying like to tell my fellow employees. I think we should not be afraid of learning new things. And in that way, we grow and not be ashamed of not knowing things. 

No one knows everything, and you have to learn, and sometimes learning is not comfortable. So try pushing yourself a little bit harder.

The Baridi Baridi Times will be posting interviews with Baridi Baridi employees on note.
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