Kreston Pedabo

What were your main goals and challenges before joining Kreston Global in 2023, and how did you expect the network to support your firm?

Prior to joining Kreston Global, we were part of an Association and our primary goals were to significantly increase our global visibility, expand our service capabilities, diversify our client portfolio particularly around gaining international clients for audits, and enhance our technical proficiency to meet evolving market demands. While our presence in Nigeria remained strong, our brand recognition was highest for taxation services and given the association’s national recognition was limited, it did not fully support our goals nor were we able to effectively access international expertise and resources, which are often crucial for serving clients with cross-border activities and sophisticated financial requirements.

Another key challenge was building the firm’s reputation beyond Nigeria’s borders to attract multinational clients and partners. We sought to differentiate ourselves in a competitive market dominated by larger international firms, and this required access to a global network with a stronger brand recognition.

We expected that joining Kreston Global would provide the platform to bridge these gaps by offering increased visibility, world-class technical training, global best practices and standards, and exposure to a network of reputable firms worldwide to potentially drive joint engagements. We anticipated that this would not only improve our service quality but also facilitate referrals, strategic partnerships, and credibility with high-profile clients, enabling sustainable growth.

Since joining Kreston Global, what specific support, opportunities, or resources have contributed most to your rapid growth? Can you share any standout examples?

Since our integration into Kreston Global, the input that has mostly supported our growth includes:

• Access to Technical Training and Knowledge Resources: The network has a good repository or materials and an active schedule for capacity building, with strategic global partnerships that facilitate same. These regular webinars, workshops, and recordings of same from member firms as well as experts – across technical, commercial, and soft-skills have kept our teams abreast of emerging trends and skills such as ESG and digital transformation in finance. Also, the advisory groups provide invaluable support to the member firms and smaller opportunities for networking and establishing further collaboration opportunities.
• Cross-Border Client Referrals and Collaboration Opportunities: Being part of the Kreston Global, with its network of active member firms, has created valuable opportunities to engage with international businesses seeking local expertise in Nigeria and across Africa. For example, consider a scenario where a Kreston member firm in Europe refers a multinational client planning to expand into West Africa. By leveraging our deep understanding of the local business environment, we would collaborate closely with the referring firm to deliver integrated consulting services across jurisdictions, ensuring a seamless experience for the client and reinforcing the strength of our global network. We have received and also been able to refer a number of one-off advisory, payroll, and taxation engagements to several firms in Africa as well as one to the UK, and there are several others in the pipeline, and are with such firms able to begin to discuss the potential of joint engagements and stronger contractual collaborations.
• Brand Association and Marketing Support: Leveraging the Kreston brand, which has a higher recognition index, has strengthened client trust and confidence in our services. We recently received a request from a firm outside the network in Australia asking for audit support for a client of theirs who recently scaled operations in Nigeria. They contacted us due to their familiarity with the Kreston brand and firms in Australia and considered us an expert and more affordable alternative to other firms outside the big 4. Global marketing enables us to position ourselves as a credible alternative to the Big Four in Nigeria, especially for clients looking for a firm with both local insight and global standards.
• Engagement in Global Initiatives: Our active participation in Kreston’s ESG and sustainability programs has allowed us to commence our ESG journey and develop niche expertise for service delivery early, positioning us to be a leader in this emerging service area within the Nigerian market. This has created the potential for additional revenue streams and enhanced our competitive edge.

How have clients reacted to you joining the network? Has being part of Kreston changed the type of new clients you have won?

Our clients have responded positively to our affiliation with Kreston Global, some of whom are more familiar with the brand than our previous association Many have expressed increased confidence knowing that we are backed by an international network with consistent review of quality standards and access to global resources. This has reassured both existing and potential clients of our ability to handle complex engagements, especially those requiring cross-border coordination. We continue to pitch for larger audits given the network’s IFAC membership and will be happy to report as we start to win some.

We were able to channel our rebrand marketing to speaking to our increased capacity and hope to attract more multinational corporations, scaling companies with foreign investors, and fast-growing Nigerian companies with international ambitions. We expect that such clients will value our combined local expertise, best practices and global reach, which aligns well with their expanding business needs.

Moreover, our enhanced service offerings in areas such as ESG/Sustainability Advisory and Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), to mention a few have created a new Leads pool, attracting clients focused on sustainability, risk management and regulatory compliance – some of which were less prominent before joining Kreston Global.