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.
