In a quest to be globally competitive in plant and machinery valuation practice, some Estate Surveying and Valuation practitioners in Nigeria have liaised with the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), to obtain international certification.
Though, known as valuation in Nigeria, some countries use the term, appraisal to define the act of estimating value for tangible and intangible assets, plant, machinery and equipment. That is why the Past President of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), Leslie H. Miles Jr. is in Nigeria.
The ASA, last week in Lagos, commenced Stage 1 of the accreditation process aimed at certifying the first set of Nigerians as Members of the organization. The program is being co-ordinated by Leslie H. Miles Jr. a past president and Certified Instructor of ASA. He is also a Senior Appraiser with Asset Valuation Source, a Texas based institution in the United States of America (USA).
The program dwelt essentially on plant, machinery and equipment valuation principles and practice. The program was hosted by Messrs Paul Osaji & Co at their head office in Lekki Phase 1.
Elaborating on this, Paul Osaji, a renowned estate surveyor and valuer, said valuation is needed in various sectors of the economy such as banking and financing, oil and gas industry, aviation sector, manufacturing, real estate and such sundry businesses. Investors would want to know the values inherent in the business they want to put their money in. According to Osaji, Estate Surveyors and Valuers (Appraisers) are in the best position to put them through on this as they have the competence. Continuing, Osaji argued that investments have no border; therefore, professionals have to continually seek to obtain certifications with international designations in addition to their National Certifications, in order to meet various expectations of multinational organizations. “An appraiser must invest in academic study and hands-on, full-time experience; and must prove competency through passing qualifying examinations in valuation theory, ethics, and at least one specialty, plus peer-review approval of appraisal reports”, said Osaji. Speaking on the essence of the training, Kevin Ofili, an estate surveyor and valuer, said the training became imperative in view of dynamics going on internationally, as far as valuation of plant and machinery is concerned. He noted that there are various other disciplines which include appraisal review and management, business valuation, personal property, intangible assets, machinery and technical specialties.
The American Society of Appraisers is the oldest appraisal society in the United States. ASA has been training professional appraisers since its precursor, the American Society of Technical Appraisers, began in 1936. Today, ASA is a multidisciplinary appraisal society, providing its members a solid grounding in the appraisal principles that underlie all classes of property: real, personal, tangible and intangible. Commenting on the choice of an ASA-accredited appraiser, Miles Jr. stated that ASA-accredited appraisers provide exceptional valuation expertise as they earn their designations only after completing a rigorous course structure and peer-evaluation process that requires years of study, experience, dedication and commitment. Concluding Miles noted that the need for consistent training informed the just concluded program.
According to industry watchers the International Conferences on Valuation of plant, machinery and equipment, powered by the ASA, Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) amongst others have been held every two years for the past twenty years in several countries such as, Australia, India, Russia, Hong Kong, San Francisco, London, Malaysia, and Japan for which some members of the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers were in attendance.
