Nigeria’s economy requires over 3000 actuaries to stabilise – FRC

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has projected that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) requires over 3000 actuaries to manage and balance its financial stability.

The council’s executive secretary, Rabiu Olowo, stated this while fielding questions from newsmen during the 2024 annual industry conference organised by the Nigerian Actuarial Society (NAS), expressing concerns over the acute shortage of qualified actuaries in the country.

“What we need to do is to be intentional about increasing the number of skilled and qualified actuaries in Nigeria. The number today is very disheartening.

“We have 50 qualified actuaries in Nigeria whereas our South African counterpart has about 2000 and if you compare our economy in terms of the size of our GDP, we will be requiring more than 3000 actuaries to manage financial stability and the professional work that actuaries do to improve financial stability in our country,” he said.

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In a bid to resolve the acute number, he stressed that the council revived two directorates—actuarial and valuation, adding that the revitalisation plan birthed the Nigerian Actuarial Development Programme (NADP) aimed at developing actuarial practice.

He noted that NADP was brought to fruition to champion the awareness about the profession, through all citadels of learning.

“We intend to reach the secondary school level to create awareness and collaborate with NUC to increase the number of universities offering degree programmes in actuarial science; currently, only 4 out of 273 universities do.

“NADP will ensure the availability of physical/virtual tuition houses for those writing external professional examinations, support them financially and materially, and collaborate with renowned professional bodies to reduce exam fees for Nigeria,” he added.

He disclosed that the council has sought assistance from international bodies to help nature through certification and reduction in cost of examinations to increase the number of actuaries.