Stakeholders in the insurance industry have called for stronger actuarial capacity to improve risk management, prudential stability and insurance penetration in Nigeria.
The call was made at an actuarial capacity building workshop in Lagos, organised by the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and global actuarial firm, Milliman.
It brought together human resources practitioners, senior managers involved in actuarial recruitment and members of executive management of NIA member companies.
Speaking at the programme, Chairman of the NIA, Kunle Ahmed, represented by the Director-General of the association, Mrs. Bola Odukale, commended UNDP and Milliman for sustaining the initiative, noting that the collaboration had been ongoing since last year.
Odukale reaffirmed the association’s commitment to developing local capacity, describing it as critical to the long-term growth and stability of the insurance industry. While acknowledging that actuarial training is capacity intensive, she urged insurance companies to invest deliberately in the development of actuaries through funding and structured training programmes.
She also encouraged participants to engage actively in the discussions, stressing that the workshop provided an opportunity to build a robust pipeline of actuarial professionals to support the sector.
In his remarks, UNDP Programmes Specialists, Ikenna Orji, thanked the NIA for facilitating access to insurers, noting that the initiative was part of UNDP’s broader efforts to address low insurance penetration in Nigeria.
“The low level of insurance penetration in Nigeria poses a developmental challenge. This is why UNDP is intervening through this programme to promote insurance awareness by partnering with the NIA and Milliman to strengthen actuarial expertise in the country,” Orji said.
Also speaking, Facilitator for Milliman, Adrian Allott, said the firm is working with several countries globally to build actuarial capacity. He explained that Milliman’s engagement in Nigeria is focused on helping insurers strengthen their actuarial teams to improve prudential management, risk assessment and balance sheet understanding.
