The Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Milliman, has organised a free actuarial capacity building training for insurance practitioners in Lagos.
The training, held at the Insurers House, was organised under the Global Actuarial Initiative in Nigeria (GAIN) within the framework of UNDP’s Insurance and Risk Finance Facility (IRFF).
This is according to a statement by NIA on Wednesday, in Lagos.
The training brought together human resources practitioners, senior managers involved in actuarial recruitment and executive leadership of NIA member companies to discuss strategies for strengthening actuarial capacity in the insurance industry.
The Chairman of NIA, Mr Kunle Ahmed, represented by the Director-General of NIA, Mrs Bola Odukale, appreciated the efforts of UNDP and Milliman for organising the workshop since last year.
Ahmed assured that NIA was committed to building the capacity of local actuaries and would continue to drive it with partners for the growth of the industry.
The Chairman admitted that it was expensive to train Actuaries but urged insurance companies to commit to supporting the development of Actuaries in terms of cost and training.
He urged the participants to contribute meaningfully to the dialogue, adding that it was an opportunity to build a robust pipeline of actuarial professionals in Nigeria.
In his remark, Mr Ikenna Orji, Programmes Specialist, UNDP, appreciated NIA for making it seamless to connect with the insurers, noting that the project was dedicated to insurance awareness.
“I thank NIA, especially because we cannot access the insurance practitioners as a group without the support of the NIA.
“The low insurance penetration in Nigeria poses a developmental challenge, hence the UNDP intervention to dedicate this programme for insurance awareness by partnering the NIA and Milliman to develop the actuarial aspect of insurance expertise in Nigeria,” Orji said.
Mr Adrian Allott, Facilitator, Milliman GAIN, said Milliman was working with countries across the world to strengthen their actuarial capacity.
Allott said Milliman was on a mission to help Nigeria insurers develop their actuarial team to strengthen their prudential management and improve their understanding of risk and balance sheet.
No fewer than 35 NIA member companies’ representatives attended the workshop.