By Sola Alabadan
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has called for the strengthening of collaborative efforts to ensure responsible AI adoption in the Nigerian insurance industry, so as to maximise the strength and opportunities of Actuaries and AI.
The Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive of NAICOM, Mr. Olusegun Omosehin, gave this charge at the 2024 Nigerian Actuarial Society (NAS) annual industry conference on Wednesday in Abuja. He was represented by the Deputy Commissioner, Usman Jankara.
The theme of the Conference was “Actuaries and AI: Strengths, Opportunities, Weaknesses, and Threats”.
Considering the potential of AI in the Nigerian insurance industry, he said the mutual collaboration would seek to consider regulation and governance especially as robust regulations is needed to ensure the ethical use of AI in insurance, focusing on data privacy, fairness, and transparency.
He also said the collaboration would seek to foster partnership between actuaries and AI developers where actuaries bring domain expertise, while AI developers provide the technical know-how, stressing that “This would therefore create solutions that are both effective and ethically sound.”
Omosehin added that since the actuarial profession needs to embrace continuous learning to stay relevant in the AI age, equipping actuaries with skills in data science, machine learning, and AI would be essential.
Meanwhile, the NAICOM boss equally reiterated that the commission is seriously concerned about the current inadequate professionally qualified actuaries in the Nigerian insurance industry and is committed to supporting all initiatives and developments that are likely to facilitate actuarial capacity development in Nigeria.
As the Nigerian insurance industry continues to evolve, he pointed out that the intersection of actuarial science and AI presents a unique opportunity to further utilise the power of technology to shape the future of insurance in Nigeria.
He stated that “It is in recognition of these developments that the Federal Government of Nigeria plans to position Nigeria as the AI hub for AI solutions in Africa. This is to be achieved through the development and implementation of a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy aimed at accelerating AI adoption in Nigeria.
“It is thus important that the insurance industry and, by extension, actuaries are at the forefront of its adoption. “In conformity with the above, the Commission is committed to the Federal Government strategy. We will ensure that our sectoral regulatory policies are consistent with the outlined goals of the Federal Government while enhancing the stability of the Nigerian Insurance Industry.”
Even though there are perceptions that disruptive technologies like AI will replace every job and make a lot of skills obsolete, like other technological disruptors, he said AI has the potential to transform the insurance industry and by extension the actuarial profession.
In view of the pace at which AI is evolving, he said actuaries have to also continuously evolve and develop skill sets that utilise AI and other machine learning tools or risk being left behind.
He therefore called on the NAS to seize this moment to collaborate, innovate, and lead the way in shaping the future of the Nigerian insurance industry in order to facilitate the enthronement of a more sustainable and inclusive insurance ecosystem that benefits all stakeholders.
