Liswaniso Namatama CA (ZICA) on professional judgment, community impact, and why human skills will always matter in audit.
In an era when AI and automation are transforming finance, what is the irreplaceable value that human professionals bring to the auditing process? Liswaniso Namatama has a compelling answer — and it goes to the heart of what good auditing really is.
Liswaniso is a Chartered Accountant (ZICA) based in Lusaka, Zambia, and an Assistant Manager at ACTO Accountants. Trained at KPMG, she brings a rigorous technical grounding to a profession she sees as fundamentally relational — built on trust, professional judgment, and a genuine understanding of how businesses operate. She is also a delegate at One Young World Belfast 2023 and the co-founder of the Young Dream Radiators foundation, which provides mentorship and opportunity to young people in underserved communities across Zambia.
In this episode of Difference Makers Discuss, Liswaniso joins host Chenet Dunovan to explore what audit looks like when it’s done well: as a tool not just for assurance, but for helping organisations understand themselves and improve how they work. She argues that no amount of automation can replace the judgment, empathy, and contextual understanding that skilled human auditors bring to the table.
Speaker Bio
Liswaniso Namatama is a Chartered Accountant (ZICA) and Assistant Manager at ACTO Accountants in Lusaka, Zambia. She trained at KPMG, gaining experience across a diverse range of industries and sectors. Liswaniso is a One Young World delegate (Belfast 2023) and co-founder of the Young Dream Radiators foundation, a community mentorship initiative supporting young people from less fortunate backgrounds. She is a passionate advocate for the human dimension of audit and the role of professional judgment in an increasingly automated world.
What You Will Learn
- Why audit is about understanding businesses, not just checking numbers
- The human skills that AI cannot replicate in the audit process
- How diverse industry exposure shapes better auditors
- Liswaniso’s experience at One Young World — and the global community of change-makers she found there
- The Young Dream Radiators foundation: mentorship, community, and purpose
