WEBINAR: Understanding Actuarial Science Education in Kenya

Elias Omondi

Elias Omondi is an actuarial expert, with immense experience in complex risk and capital modelling. He has a proven track record in the development of risk based supervision framework, policies and regulatory software.

Elias has worked with the World Bank and IMF on various international technical assistance projects, designing and implementing regulations and policies. Elias has assisted various countries in Asia, Africa and Caribbean especially insurance and pension supervisors to establish regimes of risk-based supervision. Elias believes that healthy financial markets build the foundations for a thriving economy to support the SDGs.

Elias has also specialized in index insurance and micro-insurance projects in sub Saharan Africa. He specializes in various technical areas in micro-insurance and particularly in Weather Index Insurance to support vulnerable communities and people.

Elias is an innovator and technologist with strong passion in AI/artificial intelligence, blockchain, quantum computing and data science. A strategic and operational analyst with a demonstrated ability to transform institutions around open technologies.

Wyckliffe M. Shamiah

Mr. Shamiah is the Chief Executive of the Capital Markets Authority and has worked at the Authority for over 23 years in various capacities. He has gained wide experience in operations of capital markets. He chairs various committees within the Authority including the Technical arm (CnF) and the Regulatory Sandbox Committee. He is a Co-Chair of the Capital Market Master Plan Secretariat.

Mr Shamiah holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Mathematics from Egerton University and a Master’s in Business Administration (Finance) from the University of Nairobi. He is a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya. He received his ICPAK commendation in 2013 as well as ICPAK Fellowship in 2016.

Mr. Shamiah is an alumnae of the US International Visitors Programme and an Associate of Toronto Leadership Centre. He has equally been the Chairperson of TC 68(Financial Services Technical Committee) of Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBs). He was awarded a certificate of completion for the SMREA Program, March 2018, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Executive Education.

He is also the Chairman of the Market Supervision and Risk Management sub-committee of the East African Securities Regulators Forum (EASRA), a regional securities regulators umbrella organization in the East African Community (EAC). He sits on the Financial Stability Board Regional Group of Sub-Sahara representing Kenya and the capital markets.

Sean Kidney

Sean Kidney is the CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), an international NGO working to mobilize global capital for climate action. Working with Climate Bond Partners in the investment and banking community in 30 countries around the world, CBI aims to reduce market friction and improve risk differentiation for green investments. This involves advocacy around standards; issuer support for bond market development; and policy interventions that promote green finance solutions. Partners include major investors such as CalSTRS, Axa IM, BlackRock, SSGA, PIMCO, Union Investments, Allianz GI and PGGM; banks such as UBS, Credit Suisse, DBS, HSBC, Standard Chartered, ABN AMRO, Mizuho, MUFG, SMBC Nikko, UniCredit, Danske Bank, NAB, ANZ, Westpac, CBA, Society Generale, Citi, JP Morgan, Barclays, BNP Paribas and RBC; and market infrastructure actors such as LSEG (Refinitiv), Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Singapore Stock Exchange, MSCI, Moody’s, S&P Global, Tradeweb, Nasdaq, NYSE and others.

Donald Were

Donald has previously worked as an Actuary for the Insurance Regulatory Authority in Kenya. Before that, he was a Business Analyst at Jubilee Insurance Company ltd.

He holds a Masters in Actuarial Management from Bayes Business School (previously Cass Business School) in London, and a Bachelors in Actuarial Science and Information Technology from Maseno University.

Andy Peterson

Andrew Peterson is the Senior Director, International at the Society of Actuaries (SOA) working to implement the SOA’s mission of advancing actuaries as leaders in measuring and managing risk on a global basis. In that capacity he oversees the SOA’s activities outside of North America in advancing the actuarial profession through education and research.

Andy works with the Board to establish the SOA’s international strategy and oversees the work of members and staff around the world in implementing that strategy. Prior to taking on this role in mid-2018, Andy served as the Senior Staff Fellow for Retirement where he worked with SOA members to develop and support better retirement systems.

Andy received a BS degree in mathematics from Taylor University in 1992. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, an Enrolled Actuary, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries.

R. Dale Hall

R. Dale Hall is Managing Director of Research for the Society of Actuaries (SOA). In his role, Dale coordinates the SOA’s strategic research partnerships, oversees SOA experience studies, coordinates research across the SOA’s wide variety of actuarial practice areas, and directs the SOA’s data-driven in-house research initiatives.

He is a frequent speaker at insurance and retirement industry meetings to highlight SOA research, including presentations to the actuarial task forces of the NAIC and congressional committee testimony on pension plan mortality rates. He has appeared on behalf of the SOA in a variety of media outlets including coverage on C-SPAN and National Geographic’s BREAKTHROUGH television series, and hosts the Society of Actuaries Research Insights Podcast.

Prior to joining the SOA, Dale spent over 20 years in the US insurance industry, primarily as Chief Actuary for the Life/Health companies of COUNTRY Financial. While at COUNTRY, he was active in industry as a member of the ACLI Actuarial Committee, and was an adjunct professor in the actuarial science program at Illinois State University.

Dale is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst and a CFA charterholder. Dale earned his MBA in Finance from Capital University and his BS in Mathematics from John Carroll University.

Bode Olajumoke

Experienced in Project and Client Management with a demonstrated history of implementing solutions for growth in the reinsurance industry. Skilled in Healthcare, Pension Funds, Actuarial Consulting, and Actuarial Science. Strong business development, networking background and a passion for closing protection gaps in Insurance.

Ange Boyou

Ange is a French trained actuary who started to work for Société Générale insurance – the life insurance subsidiary of the bank – as an ALM actuary. After having worked 5 years on different topics such as Solvency 2 – BEL and SCR calculations, ORSA, and reporting –, programming or insurance accounting, Ange decided to embark on the consulting adventure at addactis France in late 2018.

Eventually, in July 2020, Ange got promoted as the new Africa Market Manager of addactis. He now is in charge of developing the activities of the addactis group across Africa, which means selling the actuarial solutions – IFRS17, pricing, reserving or modeling tools to mention just a few – developed by its company.

Joseph Birundu

Joseph Birundu is an actuary with over 20 years’ experience in insurance both in the UK and Kenya. Joseph is currently a Director at LUX Actuaries and Consultants Ltd, where he is responsible for growing the consultancy business and providing consultancy services for clients.

He has worked several years in the UK for various insurance and reinsurance companies, both as a permanent member of staff and a consultant. They include: Royal Sun alliance, AVIVA, Lloyds Banking Group, AXA, Legal and General, Scor RE and Pacific Life Re.

He was the Group Actuary at UAP Old Mutual where he was responsible for managing the East African Actuarial team.

In Kenya he has advised various life and non-life companies on a consulting basis as and when their need arose, on an appointed actuary basis and on IFRS 17 projects. He is a certified Risk Integrity Consultant and is licensed to implement Risk Integrity. He also has more than 15 years’ Prophet experience.

He is the Chair of the Life Insurance Working Party of The Actuarial society of Kenya and a member of the IFRS 17 working party. He is the Actuarial Academy of East Africa’s Lead Tutor for SP2 professional papers.

Asaph Ngecha

Asaph is a qualified actuary with insurance experience in the South African and rest of Africa insurance markets. He possesses a wide breadth of experience ranging from modelling & financial reporting, product development & pricing , audit, transaction support , capital management and in Finance/Investments. Currently he is focused on delivering IFRS 17 transition and implementation solutions across Africa.

Victoria Mwangi

Victoria Mwangi is an experienced Risk & Capital Management Actuary at Liberty Life Kenya (LLK). Driven by pursuit of excellence, she takes pride in providing strategic and operational initiatives towards the growth of company profits and market share. In addition, she leads the implementation of IFRS 17 at LLK and is a member of the IFRS 17 working party. Outside the actuarial world, she is a mother of twins and plays tennis with the hope of one day becoming a pro.

Kio Mwangasha

Kio is a qualified Actuary with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries United Kingdom. She has over 6 years of experience in actuarial consulting. Kio is currently the lead actuary in IFRS 17 implementation at Zamara. She has vast experience in insurance actuarial consulting having undertaken a number of projects including IFRS 17 implementation, statutory reserving, solvency capital modelling, product development and pricing, mergers and acquisitions, setting up of new insurance companies, among others.

Tedd Miano

Tedd has worked in the insurance industry for more than four years. He has experience working for clients in more than 10 countries. As part of his experience, Tedd has conducted the following work:

Liability Valuations for insurance companies and reinsurance companies
Pricing exercises for insurance industries e.g. Rwanda
Premium certification exercises
Reinsurance certification exercises
IFRS 17 Gap analyses
IFRS 17 Financial Impact Assessment
Client trainings

Outside of his daily work at Zamara, Tedd is a machine learning enthusiast. He has participated in various machine learning competitions, some of which included pricing insurance contracts using machine learning techniques. He has also been involved in various other projects e.g. analyzing customer reviews using sentiment analysis software. Tedd is proficient in Excel, VBA, R and python. He is also familiar with Prophet Professional. He is also nearly qualified actuary with 3 out of the 15 papers, remaining with only 3 out of 15 papers

Sheila Gatu

Sheila is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and currently works at Zamara Rwanda as the Resident Actuary. Her main specialization is General and Medical Insurance. She has however co-led projects in Life Insurance and Pensions as well. Sheila is passionate about seeing insurance being used as a vehicle to improve the dignity of lives. She does this by leading projects whose end-result is financially viable, workable and sound Insurance and Pensions Products/Schemes.

In Zamara Rwanda, Sheila is responsible for growing and equipping the Actuarial department. Specifically, she is part of the core team in charge of IFRS17 implementation in Rwanda. She also supports the CEO with Board and Group reporting, as well as internal reporting. She is part of the core team that has driven a huge improvement in performance at Zamara Rwanda, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sheila previously led the General Insurance Actuarial team at Zamara Kenya, where she led Industry studies, Pricing studies, a Due-diligence exercise and a Turnaround strategy. She also ensured timely delivery of over 30 client compliance reports annually. She was also the Lead Trainer in the annual Zamara Actuarial training in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, Sheila provided her expertise as the Actuarial Expert in the Health Financing Reforms Expert Panel in Kenya, reporting to the Cabinet Secretary, as well as to WHO for the Community Based Health Insurance Scheme in Rwanda.

Dr. Cynthia Ikamari

Dr. Cynthia Ikamari is an experienced researcher who is innovative and actively involved in designing products aimed at achieving SDGs with a special focus on green finance. Prior to founding Endsway Limited, Cynthia worked in product development at Resolution Insurance. She is also involved in lecturing undergraduate and postgraduate students in actuarial science courses.

Ashley King-Bischof

Ashley leads Product at Sprout with a background in internet-based technologies that impact agriculture. She also works with launching and growing tech startups in US, South Asia, East, and West Africa. Ashley has founded multiple award-winning startups that tackle significant challenges faced by smallholder farmers and the global value chains they sell into, including financial services and market access. Ashley holds a BA from Brown University and an MBA from IE Business School.

Tim Radjy

Tim Radjy is the Founder and a Managing Partner at AlphaMundi Group in Switzerland since 2008, the Treasurer of AlphaMundi Foundation since 2017, the Chairman of the SocialAlpha Fund in Luxembourg that he created in 2009, the Chairman of the AlphaJiri Fund investment committee since 2019, and a Board member of Sustainable Finance Geneva since 2020.

He previously worked first for Morgan Stanley Capital International and then for UBS, from 2000 to 2007. In 2004, he became a founding member of UBS Philanthropy Services, providing the bank’s wealthiest international clients with guidelines on foundation governance, NGO selection and impact evaluation.

Tim also spent time in Bolivia in 2006 to review the Swiss Development Agency’s microfinance program PROFIN and help it spin off into an independent foundation, and as a fundraising advisor to WWF International in 2009-2010. Tim holds a Degree in Political Science from the University of Geneva and a Private Banking Diploma from UBS. He is fully dedicated to the emergence and mainstreaming of impact investing.

Corinna Hornwall

Corinna is an ESG Manager at SwedFund which is Sweden’s development finance institution, making sustainable investments in private sector companies in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Swedfund invests in three specific sectors that have the best opportunities to achieve sustainable development: Energy & Climate, Financial Inclusion, and Health.

Corinna is a sustainability specialist focused on impact investing and development finance in emerging markets. She is involved in ESG due diligence on new investments and monitoring ESG performance, focusing on environment, climate, human rights, labour, gender and anti-corruption issues; leading on Swedfund’s climate strategy and integrating climate risk and impact into the investment process.

Nick Spencer

Nick is a sustainable investment strategist. He founded Gordian Advice which helps UK Pension Funds integrate responsible investment into their investment strategies and portfolios. Gordian Advice currently works with a range of corporate DB, LGPS and DC clients who are responsible for £100 bn in assets.

Nick is Chair of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) Sustainability Board and co-chair of the IFoA’s climate-related risks taskforce. He recently co-authored a paper on “Climate scenario analysis – An illustration of potential long-term economic & financial market impacts”, wrote the DCIF Good Citizen’s Guide to ESG , “Why we fiduciaries are failing younger members”, and “Are there alligators in your economic models?”. Nick is a founding member of Actuaries for Transformational Change, and co-authored their third bulletin “Uncertainty and Judgement”.

Nick is a passionate believer on the importance of values & culture and an advocate for aligning the asset management industry with a broader societal purpose. He was Co-chair of Russell Investments’ EMEA Diversity & Inclusion committee & is an Ambassador for the Diversity Project.

Louise Pryor

In the course of a varied career as an actuary, software engineer and academic, Louise was Director, Actuarial Standards at the Financial Reporting Council, where she led the development of the Technical Actuarial Standards. She has practised as an independent consultant in the areas of software risk and sustainability and has worked on financial modelling for social security and pensions reform in a number of emerging economies.

Louise is Chair of the London Climate Change Partnership and a non-executive director at the Ecology Building Society.

She became a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in 1987 and a Fellow of IEMA in 2019. She has a degree in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from Northwestern University.

Mukami Njeru

Mukami Njeru is a Council Board Member of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, and a Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary (CERA). She is the Vice President of The Actuarial Society of Kenya (TASK) and currently works for a global reinsurer – Swiss Re – in the Middle East and Africa region, developing products, reinsurance solutions and capital support structures for Life and Health Insurers. Prior to this, she held consulting roles in different parts of the world (including the General Insurance practices of PwC in Sydney and Deloitte in London; as well as Financial Advisory and Risk Consulting work in Nairobi) and an internal role at CIC Insurance Group, Kenya.

Dorothy Maseke

Dorothy’s passion is to create a positive impact in people’s lives. She likes to promote collective endeavors that bring people together – locally and globally. An emerging futurist, sustainability enthusiast, certified coach, wife, and mother of three, Dorothy aims to make a positive contribution to development in Africa. Dorothy currently heads the Risk and Compliance department at ICEA LION Group, one of the largest financial services groups in East Africa with interests in insurance, investments, pensions, trusts and properties.

Passionate about sustainability and sustainable finance, Dorothy is currently leading ICEA LION’s sustainability initiatives including ICEA LION becoming signatories to and implementing the UNEP FI’s Principles of Sustainable Insurance (PSI). Other initiatives include representing ICEA LION as the only Africa member to the UNEP FI Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Insurer Pilot Group as well as driving more signatories to the PSI -led “Nairobi Declaration on Sustainable Insurance” – a declaration of commitment by African insurance industry leaders to support the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Dorothy was recently elected to the Board of the Institute of Risk Management; a global professional risk management body headquartered in the UK and chairs its Investment Committee. Dorothy holds leadership roles in several industry forums including being a co-founder of IRM East Africa’s Regional Group and has over the past 5 years been instrumental in the growth and positioning of IRM as the go-to professional body in Africa. On the community front, Dorothy sits on the Board of World Vision Kenya, a Christian Humanitarian Organization.

Dorothy is a multiple awardee, with awards such as the Corporate Risk Manager of the year for two consecutive years (2017 and 2018) as well as a finalist at the Thompson Reuters Innovation Awards, 2018. In 2019, she was named one of the Top40Under40 Women in Kenya.

In her free time, Dorothy enjoys planning weddings and events and runs a cooking club.

Nzomo Mutuku

Mr. Nzomo Mutuku is the Chief Executive Officer of the Retirement Benefits Authority and an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors. He holds a Masters of Arts degree in Economics as well as a first class honours Bachelor of Arts Degree (Economics), and is a Fellow of the Economists Society of Kenya.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Mutuku had been seconded to the National Treasury & Planning as a Senior Adviser, Financial Sector and Acting Director, Financial and Sectoral Affairs Department. Previously he was the Chief Manager, Research & Development at RBA, and had worked with RBA since 2000 when he joined from the Central Bank of Kenya.

Mr. Mutuku has a wealth of experience in the operations and activities of the financial sector. He has undertaken training in pensions and financial markets in various countries including the UK, Canada and USA at Harvard University and the Wharton Business School.

He was the founder Chairman of the Technical Committee on Collaboration between Financial Sector Regulators in Kenya and has authored a number of papers and made several presentations at international forums on issues relating to the retirement benefits industry. In September 2019, Mr. Mutuku was appointed as the Interim Chair of the African Pension Supervisors Forum (ASPF).

Godfrey Kiptum

Godfrey Kiptum is the Commissioner of Insurance and CEO, Insurance Regulatory Authority-Kenya.

He has a wealth of experience having worked in various State Agencies over the last 20 years.

He holds an MBA from ESAMI/Maastricht MSM University, and is an Associate of the Life Management Institute of USA (ALMI).

He is also a member of the Chartered Insurance Institute of UK.

Mercy Kairu

Mercy joined Jubilee Life Insurance in 2014 and has over 8 years’ experience in actuarial professional practice. Prior to joining Jubilee, she worked at Britam, RBA, and IRA-Kenya in actuarial & regulatory advisory roles.

She is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (UK) and Fellow of The Actuarial Society of Kenya. She also holds an MSc Actuarial Management (Distinction) – Cass Business School, UK; and BSc Actuarial Science – University of Nairobi.

Ezekiel Macharia

Ezekiel is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (UK) and a Fellow of the Actuarial Society of Kenya.

He joined the financial services provider, Kenbright Holdings Limited, in 2016 as Managing Director. As a thought leader and predictor of risk, Ezekiel hasover ten years’ experience in the East and Central Africa market specialising in Property, Life, and Health insurance.

He sits on several advisory boards in both public and private institutions, but his real vision is to build capacity within the continent and is working on setting up the first actuarial institution in the region.

Previously, he sat in the Council of The Actuarial Society of Kenya and is an Executive Fellow to the Risk Management Centre at Strathmore University.

In other emerging markets, Ezekiel serves as a trainer for regulatory commissions in the Asia Pacific Region.

Brian Kidula

Brian Kidula is considered Kenya’s most experienced chess player, having been in the game for over 25 years. Popularly known as Uncle B among Kenyan new generation of chess players, Kidula’s contribution to the developemnt of chess in Kenya and Africa as a whole cannot be gainsaid.

Uncle B’s Terrian Chess Academy has positioned itself as the go-to institution for school-going children, of all walks and background.

Bryan Ware

Bryan Ware is a director at AmTrust Financial, in Cleveland Ohio, USA. He currently focuses on Workers’ Compensation pricing and predictive modeling. He has held the roles of Chief Actuary for a mid-sized Workers’ Compensation company, Chief Pricing Actuary for a major reinsurer, and Chief Underwriter for an offshore alternative risk transfer reinsurer, among other roles over his career. He has worked in insurance, reinsurance, and consulting companies. He also has significant prior experience in enterprise risk management, reserving, corporate governance, underwriting, litigation support, and international business.

Bryan has been in the industry for over 36 years. He is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS), Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA), and a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA). He is a graduate of Wichita State University, in Wichita KS, USA. Bryan has been a member of the CAS Committee on Professionalism for 8 years. He is a frequent facilitator at the Course on Professionalism that is required of any new member of the CAS.

Mohammed Albather

Mohammed is an Actuarial Analyst at Lux, based in Dubai. He primarily works on Motor and Health insurance pricing and GI reserving. He is actively involved in the process development and optimization at Lux.

Luke Njiru

Luke is a part qualified actuary heading up the General Insurance Actuarial Consulting at Zamara Actuaries. His specialty is in Reserving, Pricing, Capital Modelling, and Reinsurance solutions including Reinsurance Optimisation, advising management and/or boards on Renewal Considerations, and the annual Statutory review of Reinsurance structure for Insurance companies. With over 6 years in the General Insurance consulting space, Luke is well versed in the operations of the insurance sector in a number of jurisdictions across Africa. With this background, he believes that actuaries have the requisite skills to fix most – if not all – of the challenges the sector faces.

Brent Rossman

Emotional Intelligence is a skill set that allows us to identify and manage emotions, in ourselves and in others. Understanding how emotions impact our actions, behaviors, and ultimately our lives is vital to every person’s success. Brent’s coaching practice is rooted in emotional intelligence. He also facilitates team sessions, conducts group coaching, and speaks for a variety of organisations. Overall, he helps leaders bridge the gap between technical and personal skills.

Brent Rossman spent the first 15 years of his career as an actuary in the insurance industry. He understands the demands that technical professionals face; from connecting with teammates and peers, to change management and productivity demands. Following his passion to help others develop, Brent is now a Certified Executive Coach through the International Coach Federation. He is also a certified Genos International Emotional Intelligence Practitioner. He enjoys connecting with others and helping them develop into well rounded leaders that are capable of anything!

Navarun Jain

Navarun is a Senior Analyst at Lux, based out of Dubai. He primarily works on General Insurance reserving, pricing, capital modelling and IFRS 17. In addition, as Data Science specialist at Lux, Navarun works on emerging technologies and methods in predictive analytics and their applications to the actuarial realm. He also serves as Vice-Chair of the Casualty Actuarial Society’s working group on Machine Learning.

Jay Kosgei

Jay is a Resident Actuary at Zamara Kenya. He is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Actuarial Society of Kenya, and is a founding member of TASK’s General Insurance Working Party.

Jay is part of the inaugural IRA-Kenya scholarship cohort to Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), where he holds a MSc. in Actuarial Management. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (Kenya).

Jay has domain experience in General, Health, and Micro Insurance having previously headed the General Insurance Actuarial function at Britam Holdings Plc. Jay also has prior regulatory and consulting experience having worked with the IRA-Kenya and PwC Kenya.

Daniel Lind

Daniel has spent the last 8 years working with social impact projects across Europe and acting as a consultant for early stage social impact startups helping them define clear metrics and build sustainable business models.

He has a strong passion for development through Data-Driven-Decisions and human-centric design with a strong focus on economic sustainability. Daniel now focuses on creating circular systems to impact rural areas in Africa through DDD and human centric design.

Kiambi Cynthia Wanjiku

Cynthia is a final year student pursuing Bsc in Actuarial Science at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). She is immensely passionate about financial inclusion and empowerment, changing the lives of women and young people in her country, as well as the potential of sustainable development and increased access to finance in creating opportunities for a dignified and meaningful experience.

Catherine Nduku Mbithi

Catherine is a final year student pursuing Bsc Actuarial Science at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology(JKUAT). She also serves as the Finance Secretary at the Actuarial Students Society of Kenya (ASSK).

She is a member of the United Nation’s focus groups on the Future Agenda, and has a great passion about leadership, women empowerment, and environmental conservation.

Courtney Christie-Veitch

Courtney is the Advisor Financial Sector Supervision at IMF. In this capacity, he provides technical assistance to banking, insurance and capital market regulators in the East African Region (seven countries) to strengthen financial sector supervision and regulation and align supervisory standards with international benchmarks. Courtney’s remit spans the banking, micro finance, insurance and pension sectors as well as capital markets. Courtney is a member of the Chartered Banker Institute. He holds an MBA in Finance from the Manchester Business School and a Chartered Banker MBA from the University of Wales, Bangor.

Patricia Kiwanuka

Brought up in a village in Embu, Kenya, Patricia achieved her big goal of retiring, as CEO, of a top corporate firm at the age of 40. She is the Founder and Managing Director of Revenu Stream Limited, which was set up in October 2017. The firm has grown both the individual (retail) line as well as corporate business with our clients including BAT, GSK, Vivo Energy, Minet, Zamara, Sanlam, etc amongst others.

Patricia brings with her a wealth of corporate knowledge and balance of entrepreneurial experience with a personal vision to live life fully. She is a seasoned trainer, thought leader and public speaker, and has carried out personal financial management sessions for pension funds, private firm and consulting experience having worked on projects for World Bank, East Africa Community Secretariat as well as the National Bank of Rwanda (Central Bank).

She is currently a Board member of the Banki Kuu (CBK) Pension Fund, NSE Clear Limited, AAR Insurance as well as Council Member at USIU-Africa and St John Ambulance, amongst others. Patricia is a CFA(R) Charter holder, Member of CFA Institute, USA and has undertaken several management courses with Insead Business School. She holds a Masters of Business Administration Degree (Finance) and a Bachelor of Science Degree (Mathematics/Statistics) and is pursuing a 2nd Masters in Arts (Counselling Psychology). She is a Certified Trainer and Trustee, Trustee Development Programme, College of Insurance/Humber University, Certified Trainer of Trainers Kenya Institute of Education.

Professor Kenneth Amaeshi

Kenneth Amaeshi is a leading scholar on sustainable business and finance in the global south. He is the Chair in Business and Sustainable Development and Director Scaling Business in Africa at the University of Edinburgh. He also holds a Chair in Sustainable Finance and Governance at the School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute, Florence, Italy.

Kenneth’s research interest currently focuses on financial market reforms and governance, as well as on sector-level policies for sustainability and sustainability strategy in organisations. He has an expert level knowledge of developing and emerging economies. His research has a very strong interface between business and society, particularly national governments in Africa, where he has an extensive network. Since 2015, he has significantly contributed to developing the intellectual foundations of Africapitalism – an economic philosophy for the development of Africa – and championed its mainstreaming in the global academia. Besides teaching and researching, Kenneth works closely with businesses and governments in Africa, Europe, and Asia. He leads executive capacity building engagements and consultancy projects in the broad areas of sustainable finance, sustainability strategy, leadership, ethics, and governance for multinational corporations and institutions. He was recently a Scholar in Residence at the National Pension Commission, Nigeria.

Raxit Soni

Raxit Soni is the Chief Actuary, Prudential Africa since April 2021. Prior to this he was the CEO of Prudential Life Assurance Kenya (PLAK). Raxit worked for Prudential UK for 6 years and Phoenix Life Limited UK for 2 years. He joined PLAK in November 2014 as Head of Risk & Compliance, Kenya. In April 2016, he was promoted to the position of Head of Risk & Compliance. East Africa. In April 2019, he was promoted to the position of Chief Executive Officer. He holds a Bachelor of Science (1st class honors) in Actuarial Science from City University, UK.

A qualified actuary, and a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, he is actively involved in the development of the actuarial profession in Kenya and is a council member of The Actuarial Society of Kenya (TASK)

Joab O. Odhiambo

Joab O. Odhiambo is a PhD and Research Fellow at University of Nairobi’s School of Mathematics. His key research areas as an Actuarial Science expert include Modeling and Forecasting of Mortality and Longevity Risks for developing countries with limited data like Kenya.

This is because these, he believes, countries need novel methods that correctly predicts these sustainability risks thus enabling the life firms to value/price life assurance products correctly.

Andrew Smith

Andrew is an internationally renowned actuary who specialises in advanced mathematical and statistical methods to solve problems in the financial services industry. He spent 30 years as a consulting actuary, applying stochastic modelling and financial theory to a wide range of insurance and savings assignments. He has written many prize-winning papers, and was a co-author of the notorious Exley, Mehta and Smith paper on the financial theory of defined benefit pension schemes. Andrew’s yield curve calibration formula has been prescribed as the standard method for Europe’s Solvency II regime.

In 2017, Andrew moved to University College Dublin, where he now teaches mathematics. His research interests include illiquidity premiums, financial time series, estimation of extreme events, and the impact of model mis-specification on financial decisions. He also coaches young mathematicians to compete in Mathematical Olympiads.

Liza Maru

Liza is an actuarial professional with 5 years experience predominantly in General Insurance. She currently leads both Actuarial & Product Development departments at Resolution Insurance. She is very passionate about solving problems through formulating strategic organisational goals and developing client-centric solutions.

Cosmas Cheruiyot

Cosmas is an actuary with 9 years experience spanning in both the public and private sector; He has been involved in insurance regulation and technology, product development, and is currently working as an Enterprise Risk Analyst at Sanlam Insurance Company and is also a member of the TASK enterprise risk management working party.

Waithira Gichiri

Waithira is the founder and current CEO of Susfari, a consultancy firm focussing on sustainability and climate resilient development. She is a sustainability professional, holds a Master’s degree in Sustainability from Kiel University, and believes in the ability of energy access in providing opportunities towards a quality life for all.

Kelvin Massingham

A qualified Actuary by training, Kelvin brings to this role over 20 years’ experience in inclusive insurance and in leading and growing financial services organisations in complex environments. He is a financial services professional and entrepreneur with a passion for accelerating financial and health inclusion. Prior to joining FSD Africa, Kelvin started several companies in East Africa and Asia with a focus on addressing the needs of emerging consumers through digital financial solutions.

As Director of Risk, Kelvin is responsible for driving market innovation in Africa in risk management and transfer.

Kelvin is a South African but has spent the last 7 years living in Tanzania and Kenya. He is married with 3 children and loves training for and competing in triathlons.

Moses Mutuli

Moses Mutuli is the current President of The Actuarial Society of Kenya where he is spearheading certain actuarial changes in Kenya. This includes: The Actuaries’ Act, and the Minimum Education Standards for actuaries and actuarial science students.

He is currently employed by Sanlam Pan Africa, where he is the General Manager for Life Insurance, and oversees the Eastern African Region.

Moses has over 16 years of experience, especially in the life insurance industry and consulting, and he gained that in The UK, South Africa, and Kenya.

Salome Thinguri

Salome is the Actuarial Manager, General Business at CIC Insurance Group. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Actuarial Science, Masters in Economics (Econometrics) and is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) in the UK. Salome also holds certificates in Financial Econometrics, Mathematical Finance and New Managers Leadership Program from Strathmore Business School. Prior to joining CIC, Salome worked as a lecturer in Strathmore University and Alexander Forbes (EA) in their actuarial department. She is also a member of The Actuarial Society of Kenya (TASK). Salome joined CIC Insurance Group in 2014.

James qualified as an actuary in 1994 and has extensive years of experience in international actuarial consultancy from the United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya and many other African countries. His experiences involve extensive exposure to insurance, pensions, healthcare, and investment consultancy.

James Olubayi

James Israel Olubayi is the Immediate Past President of The Actuarial Society of Kenya. He is currently Executive Director at Zamara, and the Chair at UBA Kenya.

James qualified as an actuary in 1994 and has extensive years of experience in international actuarial consultancy from the United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya and many other African countries. His experiences involve extensive exposure to insurance, pensions, healthcare, and investment consultancy.

James is currently an Appointed Actuary to over 20 insurance companies in the East and Central Africa region.

His exposure involves all aspects of management of insurance companies including but not limited to product design (ordinary life assurance, group life assurance and health insurance), advice on investment strategy, marketing issues, general management, reinsurance, solvency testing, actuarial valuations, and mergers and acquisitions.

Noella Mutanda

Noella is an established all round Corporate Communications Practitioner with a cumulative experience of 17 years in the Corporate, Development (NGO) and Media sectors. Of these, she has spent 10 years in management and leadership positions with a strong Journalism, Corporate Communications, Economics, and Management background.

She has overseen the institutionalisation of functional Communication Departments, Crisis Communication & Reputation management Strategies, Corporate Communication Strategies, Brand Management Media Relations, PR Campaign Strategies, Brand Management and Quality Management Systems (QMS) among others. She has multi-sector/country/donor working experience gained from working in Kenya, Zanzibar, and Southern Tanzania.

She holds an Executive MBA (Business Administration) from Jomo Kenyatta University University of Agriculture and Technology, MA (Corporate Communications) from Daystar University, BA (Economics & Communication) from University of Nairobi, and a Diploma (journalism) from Kenya Institute of Mass Communication. She’s a passionate advocate and champion of equal rights for people Living with Disability and HIV/AIDS.

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