Nigeria's Actuarial shortfall exposed as South Africa boasts 2,000 experts - FRC

Nigeria currently has fewer than 30 qualified actuaries, a figure that starkly contrasts with South Africa’s approximately 2,000.

This wide capacity gap has serious implications for Nigeria’s financial sector, particularly in areas such as pension fund management, risk pricing, liability valuation, and the country’s attractiveness to investment.

Rabiu Olowo, executive secretary and CEO of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, drew attention to this challenge while speaking at the 2025 Annual Industry Conference of the Nigerian Actuarial Society. “We recognise that for Nigeria to build a resilient and competitive economy, we need a robust pipeline of actuarial experts,” he said.

He emphasised the critical importance of actuaries in helping societies navigate uncertainty, make sound long-term decisions, and build sustainable financial systems. “The actuarial profession is uniquely positioned through its deep foundations in mathematics, risk modelling, and financial foresight to lead in this moment. The question is not whether actuaries are relevant. The question is whether we are fully leveraging their expertise to create value and resilience for society,” Olowo stated.

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He explained that the Financial Reporting Council had taken deliberate steps to address the situation. “Early last year, we operationalised the Directorate of Actuarial Standards as one of the key pillars of financial sector reform in Nigeria. This move was not administrative, it was strategic,” he said.

Olowo highlighted the evolving roles of actuaries beyond traditional functions. “Today’s actuaries are not only designing insurance products or calculating pension liabilities. They are modelling the financial implications of climate change, anticipating demographic shifts and healthcare trends, supporting financial stability through stress testing and solvency analysis, and advising on digital risks, cyber threats, and the ethical use of AI,” he explained.

In his welcome address, Jolaolu Fakoya, the newly elected president of the Nigerian Actuarial Society, underscored the expanded responsibilities of actuaries in today’s dynamic environment. “As actuaries, our role goes beyond analysis, it extends to leadership, stewardship, and innovation. This conference is a space for us to reflect, retool, and reimagine how we add value and build resilience in everything we do,” he said.

He stressed that the actuarial profession is now a calling to empower businesses, institutions, and communities to thrive amid constant disruption. “As we navigate an economy marked by uncertainty, disruption, and transformation, the call to create value and build resilience is more than a theme, it is a professional imperative. But resilience, as we understand it to be the ability to withstand shocks, may no longer be enough,” Fakoya said.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.