Salahuddin Ghaznavi (or Sal) is a member living in Dubai. Here he tells us more about how he got there.
Where did you grow up and where do you live now?
I’m originally from Karachi, Pakistan. I often introduce myself as Sal (by my second day in Dublin I realised ‘Salahuddin’ wasn’t going to cut it, and I had to come up with something much shorter and less confusing for most)!
Tell us why you chose to become a Chartered Accountant and how you got here?
It was quite incidental – I moved to Dublin from Karachi in 2003, immediately after high-school, as a full-time undergraduate student at the Dublin Business School. I initially enrolled as a Marketing major, with the intention of eventually working in advertising.
Thankfully, the first year of the undergrad program at DBS offered common subjects, regardless of your major, and I quite enjoyed accounting / finance – certainly more so than marketing. I subsequently requested the school to shift my major to Accounting & Finance (A&F). Thankfully, that went through, and from my second year at DBS, I was in the A&F program.
The natural progression upon completion of my degree was to get a professional qualification. There was absolutely no-doubt in my mind that the Chartered Accountancy qualification was considered more prestigious and respected globally, as opposed to alternative options available. Also, I had always wanted to travel and work around the world, post-qualification, and I viewed the CA qualification as my passport to the global workforce.
Fortunately, I got offers to join the ACA trainee program from a number of accounting firms in Dublin. The graduate milk rounds are structured in a way where you get an offer three months into your final year at college, which essentially means you can spend the next six months focusing on your studies as opposed to applying to secure placements. I ended up graduating with a First Class Honours degree, and joined PwC Dublin as an Associate within the Asset Management group, primarily auditing hedge and private equity funds for the next three and a half years, whilst taking and passing the Institute’s exams, in parallel.
Sal, you have lived in many places experiencing many cultures, do you believe that being a Chartered Accountant has helped you to work globally?
Absolutely, and in many ways. The Irish qualification is very well respected, globally, no matter what region you are working in, and certainly helps ‘open doors’ which, in the current climate, is more important than ever before.
I have worked in multiple jurisdictions – Ireland, Bermuda, Canada, Pakistan, and presently in Dubai, the UAE. And it’s not just geographic diversity that the Chartered Accountancy qualification has acted as major enabler for me, it’s also the nature of the roles that I have held, over the course of the past many years – ranging from audit to corporate finance / transaction advisory, to being the country head of one of the largest solar module manufacturers in the world, to holding charge of vertical CFO, Head of Regulatory Affairs, and Head of Strategic Alliances for a ride-hailing company acquired by Uber for USD 3.1bn (landmark acquisition in the MENA region), to my present role as Managing Director for a cross-border money transmission fintech. Irish chartered accountants are very versatile, and professionally thrive in any role or industry.
What do you value most about your membership of the profession and how do you think those benefits can be used to support the economy and society?
Collectively, I feel we (members of the Institute) are very fortunate to be living a life that brings with it all the opportunities that are open to us, especially at a time when the world is going through a very difficult phase - be it due to the pandemic, on-going conflicts, or the looming recession knocking on our doors. With privilege comes responsibility, and we should take on any and every opportunity we get to give back to society in whatever way we can. This could be in the form of mentoring students from disadvantaged backgrounds, financially contributing towards uplifting people out of poverty, or simply passing on a smile to stranger on the street. And for anyone who does us a favour, no matter how big or small, we must ‘pay it forward’.
After two long years, the world has opened back up for us to travel abroad again, is there anywhere you would really like to go?
Japan and Cuba. Also, I would love to bring my boys (aged eight and five) over to Ireland someday and show them what a beautiful country the Emerald Isle is (I haven’t been back since I left, in 2010, so really look forward to making this trip soon).
And finally, Sal, if you weren’t an accountant, what do you think you would you be/have been?
I probably would have been working in advertising / marketing.
Salahuddin Ghaznavi is Managing Director, UAE of
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