FRC: Nigeria Needs 2,000 Actuaries to Meet National Skill Demand

John Shiklam in Kaduna

The Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria, Dr. Rabiu Olowo, yesterday, reiterated that Nigeria needs at least 2,000 actuaries to meet national demand and support the nation’s financial sector’s evolution.

Currently Nigeria only has 28 professional actuaries.

Speaking yesterday, at the   Advocacy outreach by Nigerian Actuarial Development Programme (NADP), held at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, he said the current shortage not only limits the country’s ability to manage risk effectively but also undermines the resilience of its institutions.

He said the FRC was a regulatory agency under the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment, established by the FRC Act, 2011, and was mandated to develop and enforce accounting, auditing, actuarial, valuation, and corporate governance standards across both the private and public sectors of the Nigerian economy.

Olowo said it was in line with this mandate that the Council, in January 2024, created two new technical directorates – the Directorate of Actuarial Standards and the Directorate of Valuation Standards – as part of President Bola Tinubu’s transformation agenda.

According to him, these directorates were created to address deep-rooted capacity gaps and to strengthen professional practice in these specialised but critical areas.

He said, “The NADP, which brings us here today, is a comprehensive initiative designed to build a strong pipeline of actuarial talent in Nigeria through advocacy, curriculum support, international collaborations, bursary awards, mentorship, and professional development.

“It is being delivered in conjunction with key actuarial stakeholders—including: Regulatory bodies such as PENCOM, NAICOM, and the NHIA; International professional bodies like the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA), Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS), Society of Actuaries (SOA), and the Actuarial Society of Kenya (TASK)…”

He stressed that the actuarial profession was fundamental to the stability and sustainability of sectors that affect every Nigerian—pensions, insurance, banking, healthcare, and public finance. “Yet, in a country of over 200 million people and the largest economy in Africa, we have fewer than 30 fully qualified actuaries. This is not just a gap—it is a development challenge.

“To meet national demand and support our financial sector’s evolution, Nigeria needs at least 2,000 actuaries.

“The current shortage not only limits our ability to manage risk effectively but also undermines the resilience of our institutions.

“This is why the NADP is so critical—and why we are here at ABU Zaria today,” Olowo said.

He said the aim of the advocacy was to ensure that universities like the ABU are not left behind in this national movement.

Olowo assured that the FRC was committed to supporting ABU through: Curriculum guidance and enrichment; professional pathway mentorship for students; educational support through bursary awards and sponsorships among others.

Speaking in an interview with journalists, the Director, FRCN, Mr. Ayinde Olasukanmi decried the lack of interest in Actuarial Science among students in Nigerian universities.

He lamented that many Nigerian students are not aware about the abundant opportunities in the Actuarial profession.

According to him, Nigeria has only 28 Actuarial professionals despite the fact that six universities, including ABU Zaria, run Actuarial programmes.

“Actuarial science is one of the professions that the Financial Reporting Council ensures that Nigeria produces quality financial statements.

“We find out that we have about 80,000 accountants, 60,000 and 42,000 bankers in Nigeria, but Actuarial professionals are only 28.

“Actuarial is one of the most important professions in Nigeria, more than even IT or cybersecurity”, he said.

He disclosed that there are moves for the formation of a professional body in Nigeria to have a united voice that will address the challenges in the Actuarial profession.

He said: “One of the menace is the expensive nature of the examination because it is paid in dollars as the professional bodies are not in Nigeria”.

He added as a way of encouraging people to embrace the profession, the FRC was willing to refund money to anyone who writes the professional exams and passes it.

He added through the advocacy many students would start showing interest.

Also speaking in an interview, the Vice President of NADP and lecturer at ABU, Prof. Mohammed Maiturare, lamented that despite the fact that Actuarial Programme started in ABU in 1975, the number of people who studied the course was not appreciable because of the technical nature of the programme.

He, however, said a lot of interests were being shown because of the importance of the Actuarial profession in the banking industry and the healthcare industry.

“The purpose of this programme is to sensitise the students to show interest in Actuarial Science because it is one of the significant professions in the world.

“Today Actuarials are very well sought after, their work is in high demand.

“The number of people that have qualified professionally is still very small and that is why this efforts is being made to generate interest in the programme”, he said.