FRC: Having Only 28 Certified Actuarial Practitioners in Nigeria Unacceptable

Dike Onwuamaeze

The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) under the leadership of its Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Rabiu Olowo, has declared that it is unacceptable that there are only 28 professional qualified actuarial scientists servicing all the financial institutions and regulators in Nigeria.

It stressed that it was set to reverse the trend with a programme to promote the study and teaching of actuarial science in Nigeria.

This was declared recently by the Head, Department of Actuarial Standards, FRC, Mr. Olusunkanmi Mufutau Ayinde, during his visit to the University of Lagos (UNILAG) for career advocacy and interactive session with newly admitted post-graduate students of the Department of Actuarial Science and Insurance.

Ayinde said: “The less than 30 actuarial professionals in Nigeria are unacceptable. South Africa has almost 2000

“In Nigeria, we have about 60,000 chartered accountants; we have about 40,000 bankers, 9,000 registered insurance professionals.

“But we have less than 30 actuarial professionals in Nigeria. Some of them are even foreigners. In fact, there are 28 of them in Nigeria: five associates and 23 fellows. You can see that we have problems in our hands.

“The entire insurance premiums are determined by actuarial professionals. Every insurance company in Nigeria (about 56 of them) is supposed to have at least one or two actuarial scientist, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), National Pension Commission (PENCOM), and National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).”

To surmount this problem, the FRC, in conjunction with the Nigerian Actuarial Society (NAS), PENCOM and other stakeholders, are collaborating to remove the obstacles militating against the development of actuarial profession in Nigeria.  

“We are introducing sponsorship programme. This year, the best 10 graduating students will be sponsored for professional examinations. The ball is now in your court,” he told the M.SC students of UNILAG.

Ayinde said the current drive to promote the practice of the actuarial profession in Nigeria has taken the FRC to the Federal University Dutse in 2024 and the University of Jos last week.   

“We are going down even to secondary schools in the form of advocacy outreach. We went to a Baptist High School in Jos and then ECWA Staff High School, Jos, and they are showing interest to apply for the course in the university,” he said.

He described actuarial practitioners as financial wizards who through complex mathematics use available data to give the nearest accuracy the risks involved in a particular business venture.

“But by the time FRC registered actuarial practitioners in Nigeria we found out that they are too few. So, we have to go down to help them to develop the profession.

“The programme that we have come to matriculate today is M.Sc programme of the University of Lagos that has accreditation from Institute and Faculty of Actuaries of The United Kingdom. 

“This will ginger the students to work hard to be among the best 10. Moreover, we will refund those that pass their professional exam their money.”

The Executive Chairman of Zamara Counsulting Actuaries Nigeria Limited, Mr. Rotimi Okpaise, who was lauded as the doyen of actuarial practice in Nigeria, thanked the incumbent executive secretary/CEO of FRC for taking on this crusade to promote the profession. 

Okpaise said he had met some former CEOs of FRC who showed no interest in the past, “but the current CEO for some reason is determined to expand the profession.

“It is not good enough that we have less than 30 actuarial professionals in Nigeria. We want to increase that number. That is why we are here in UNILAG. 

“We are happy that the FRC has taken interest in us and is really taken us round the country and in the process creating the needed awareness.”

The Head of Actuarial Science Department, UNILAG, Prof. Hamadu Dallah, said the relationship the department was having with the FRC and other stakeholders is helping to make the graduates fit for the market.

“We try a lot to bring the town and the gown together,” he said.  

The Team Lead, Claims, Guinea Insurance Plc, Mrs. Adesokan Adebowale, expressed gratitude that the FRC was spearheading the crusade to attract younger people and enable them to become certified actuarial practitioners.  

Adebowale said the, “FRC’s involvement will make students to cue in to this noble profession.

“I am so glad and appreciative of the FRC for bringing this noble programme. I hope that this programme will come to stay and be successful.”