The Federal Government of Ethiopia has been investing massively in the education sector, a trend that made the country, as of 2010, one of the top eleven higher education spending na-tions in the world and the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa (World Bank Report). In particular, the driving justifications for the ongoing expansion in higher education by the government to enhance access and equity, is one of the strategic dimensions in the Education Sector Devel-opment Program (ESDP).
However, government efforts alone cannot make the mission fruitful unless there is an active involvement of the private sector in the education sector. Holding this fact and understanding the prevailing shortage of qualified and competent work force at undergraduate and graduate levels, RVU designed and launched this Master of Science Degree in Accounting and Finance a couple of years ago and would like to continue this endeavor until saturation is reached.
At present, it is perhaps indubitable that economic growth correlates with the expansion of higher education. Whereas economic growth in Ethiopian is a visible on in recent years, and whereas the contribution of the private sector is flourishing and gaining ground, and whereas the share of FDI in the country is growing, demand for leadership personnel capable of running the business and financial matters in accordance with local and global standards appears to be on the rise. Hence, RVU as always, would like to continue its efforts of contributing to this na-tional agenda by means of training qualified and competent manpower in Accounting and Fi-nance at a master’s degree level.
To put precisely, the major reasons for the higher demand of the graduate includes:
Insufficiency of nationally available similar program in the country which compel employers from academia to send their staff abroad and employees from other sec-tor to go for international study which really forces the country to surrender its hard currency.
The government’s effort of expanding higher learning institution also calls upon professionals in the field of accounting and finance who can offer courses/training, engage in research and consultancy in the area of accounting, finance, auditing, taxation and accounting information system, and this program will help in building the capacity of government and private universities.

As part of the college’s requirement to launch a new postgraduate program, the college conducted a needs assessment survey that takes account of employers of public and private organizations, employees, alumni and staff members to see the relevance of the program and the potential demand for the program. The result of the survey shows that most of private and public organizations are interested to train their staffs in accounting and finance specialization as well. In general, considering the prevailing economic and social changes taking place in the country, the department has now planned launching a M.Sc. in Accounting and Finance to better respond the need for highly qualified accounting and finance professional at master level.