In September, the African Reinsurance Corporation, Africa Re, joined actuview as a Premium Content Partner. As part of that partnership actuaries on the African continent – except South Africa, who are already partnering with actuview – will get free access to the platform and its vast archive of CPD video content. We talked to Dr Corneille Karekezi, Group General Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer at Africa Re, about the benefits he sees in this new cooperation and what the future brings for African actuaries.
Why has Africa Re decided to become an actuview partner?
Africa Re recognises the need to provide access to continuing education for actuarial talent within African markets. As a corporation whose mission is to foster the development of the insurance and reinsurance industry in Africa, we believe that providing access to actuview for our clients and actuarial organisations across Africa will go a long way to achieving this mission.
We would like the African (re)insurance industry to make significant strides in the use and reliance of data and analytics for sound business decisions. Actuaries are the driving force behind analytical insights within the (re)insurance industry; if we focus on developing this talent, we can push the industry forwards as we harness the power that comes from those analytical insights.
As a corporation whose mission is to foster the development of the insurance and
reinsurance industry in Africa, we believe that providing access to actuview for our clients
and actuarial organisations across Africa will go a long way to achieving this mission.
Which benefits do you see for actuaries with regards to specific regions?
Outside of South Africa, which already has a well-developed actuarial profession, many of the countries and actuarial organisations across Africa are constantly searching for opportunities and support to develop their local bodies and local talent. With this partnership between Africa Re and actuview, we will be able to take some of the burden away from these organisations as they will now get sponsored access to continuing education at an international standard.
Accessibility will be particularly helpful for those experienced and aspiring actuaries that are based in smaller markets where access to continuing education may have proved difficult due to isolation, lack of support, or lack of funding. Actuaries all over Africa will now able to utilise this resource to help them advance their own skills and keep up with actuarial developments across the world. We were pleased that there are learning opportunities available through actuview in both English and French; we hope to see future actuarial content in more languages that are widely spoken in Africa.
As we will also be providing access to actuview for free to our cedants across Africa (outside of South Africa), we anticipate that through the active use of actuview by the actuaries, risk professionals, and analytical teams that work for our cedants, we will see much improvement in the quality of data and soundness of the business that we reinsure.
Accessibility will be particularly helpful for those experienced and
aspiring actuaries that are based in smaller markets (…).
What are exciting developments with regards to the African actuarial communities and insurance markets?
There are many exciting actuarial developments happening across Africa. The first regional Arab Actuarial Conference was hosted in Egypt earlier this year. Africa Re is also partnering with the regulator in Egypt to develop their first actuarial life tables. In west Africa, the Actuarial Society of Ghana announced this year that they would begin to administer their own local actuarial exams, which is a significant step forwards for the country. In the east, we have seen how the regulator’s efforts in Kenya over the last few years have significantly increased the number of qualified actuaries within the country; we are hoping other countries may be inspired by this to have their own initiatives.
Further to the south, the first African Actuarial, Finance, Risk and Insurance Congress was held this year in Zimbabwe. This congress was the first of its kind focussing on actuarial educators. This is of great importance as actuarial educators play a significant role in cultivating the pipeline of future actuaries. There are many more exciting developments in actuarial communities all over Africa, and we anticipate that these will continue.
Africa Re is also looking forward to getting involved in various initiatives that provide pan-African actuarial advancement. This includes partnerships such as this one with actuview, as well as further progress of Africa Re’s Young Actuarial Professionals Programme. Through such initiatives, we aim to develop current and future actuaries that can help promote the actuarial profession in Africa, and its contribution to the (re)insurance industry across the continent.
Visit the Africa Re channel here on actuview.
