The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) recently revealed it has embarked on a strategic intervention to train over 200 actuarial professionals in the country in the next four years.
According to FRC, Nigeria currently has less than 50 professional actuaries, a number that was said to be small for the size of Africa’s most populous Economy.
Actuarial Science is a discipline that assesses financial risks in the insurance and finance field, using mathematical and statistical methods. Actuarial Sciences applies the mathematics of probability and statistics to define, analyze, and solve the financial implication of uncertain future events.
Reacting, Afolabi ORIYOMI, research head, Young Professionals and Emerging Leaders (YPEL), who spoke to our correspondent on the subject said,
“The FRC plan is a significant and necessary step for economic and financial development in Nigeria.”
He said the “initiative will significantly enhance the actuarial profession in Nigeria (as well as prevent the potential extinction of the profession in Nigeria”
“Overall, it is a crucial step towards addressing a critical gap in Nigeria’s financial sector and paves the way for a more robust and sustainable financial future.
Earlier, Dr. Rabiu Olowo, the executive director, the Federal Reporting Council, said that having sat down with the head of the directorate of actuarial standards, they came to the understanding that the field could go into extinction if nothing was done about it.
Olowo, urged the members of the group to promote actuarial education and increase the number of qualified actuaries and actuarial professionals in Nigeria “from current 50 to 200 in the next four years.”
According to him, the vision for the Nigeria Actuary Development Programme Work Group was to cultivate a pipeline of skilled professionals who are fuelled and driven to meet sustainable growth and those who advocate financial inclusion, to mitigate risk within the economy.
Speaking further Afolabi said “Given the critical role of actuaries in managing risk and fostering financial stability across all economies, as well as their increased demand not just in traditional insurance firms (pricing and reserving of insurance products) but also in non-traditional roles (climate change risk assessment, cyber insurance etc. across various sectors, including insurance, pensions, and investments) to meet the challenges of the 21st century
The move by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) to train 200 Actuaries in the next four years to increase the current state of fewer than 50 actuaries in Nigeria is a welcome development.
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