For a country of over 200 million people, Nigeria has fewer than 30 qualified actuaries, indicating a huge personnel gap that needs to be filled and the risks the nation has become susceptible to as a result of this gap amid the rise of artificial intelligence, climate change, geopolitical tensions and the evolving nature of financial products.
According to the Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, Dr Rabiu Olowo, the actuarial profession is uniquely positioned, through its deep foundations in mathematics, risk modelling, and financial foresight, to lead in these uncertain times.
The job of actuarial professionals cuts across the financial sector, from risk assessment and financial modelling to insurance, pension management and more. An actuary compiles and analyses statistics and uses them to calculate insurance risks and premiums, design insurance products and manage investments.
The need for actuaries came to the fore recently when the National Insurance Commission issued new guidelines for insurance companies with annuity portfolios.
The circular, dated January 29, 2025, signed by Director (Innovation & Regulation) A.I. Adamu, issued to Managing Directors/CEOs of all life insurance companies, mandated firms to have at least one qualified actuary responsible for asset-liability matching analysis and implementation of its adoption by the investment team of the company.
A part of the guidelines read, “An insurer that does not have an in-house qualified actuary shall make arrangements for a qualified one from an external actuarial firm to take on the ALM responsibility on its behalf for an interim period of no more than two years, subject to the Commission’s approval for an extension for two or more years thereafter.
“The appointment of an in-house or external qualified actuary, who shall sign off all ALM reports as required by the provisions of paragraphs 3.4.3, 7.3.1, and 8.1.5(m) of the Prudential Guidelines, shall be subject to the prior approval of the commission. ALM Reports: Companies are required to submit ALM reports to the commission quarterly, with requirements outlined in the circular, such as required actions by insurers depending on the results from specific analysis applying guidance provided in the NAS Standards of Actuarial Practice.”
Despite these mandates, regulatory bodies acknowledge that compliance can be hindered by a significant gap in local expertise. Even after issuing the directive on annuities, NAICOM lamented the poor actuarial capacity during a recent visit from a World Bank delegation.
Speaking at the University of Lagos during a career advocacy session with newly admitted postgraduate students of the Department of Actuarial Science and Insurance, the Head of the Directorate of Actuarial Standards at FRC, Mr Olasunkanmi Ayinde, said that the Council, under the leadership of its Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Dr Rabiu Olowo, was determined to reverse the trend and promote the study and teaching of actuarial science in Nigeria.
He said, “The less than 30 actuarial professionals in Nigeria are unacceptable. South Africa has almost 2,000. In Nigeria, we have about 60,000 chartered accountants; we have about 40,000 bankers and 9,000 registered insurance professionals. But we have fewer than 30 actuarial professionals in Nigeria. Some of them are even foreigners. There are 28 of them in Nigeria: five Associates and 23 Fellows. You can see that we have problems on our hands.”
Ayinde pointed out that every insurance company in Nigeria, as well as regulatory bodies like the Central Bank of Nigeria, National Insurance Commission, National Pension Commission, and National Health Insurance Authority, should have at least one or two actuarial scientists.
Speaking at the 2025 Nigerian Actuarial Society annual conference themed ‘Creating Value and Building Resilience in an Evolving Industry’, held in Lagos this past week, the FRC boss noted that the capacity gap directly affects the nation’s ability to manage pension funds, price risk, value liabilities, and attract investment.
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