By Edith Lorna , ASSK Editorial Committee
ASSK hosts the annual Product Design and Modelling Competition (PDC), with national levels being held in June. The event attracts over 200 actuarial students from various universities in Kenya including: JKUAT, Maseno, Kisii, Moi, Machakos, Meru, Karatina and Daystar, among others.
Each university presents 2 teams each with a maximum of 4 members to proceed to a regional level, and later national if successful in the regionals. The presentations are judged by qualified actuaries, insurance professionals and seasoned academicians in the actuarial field. There are numerous opportunities and offers to get from industry professionals that come with participation in the PDC.
Among the requirements of the Product Design and Modelling Competition is that students develop and model actuarial products with respect to a given theme. Themes explored by participants in the past include:
- The Importance of Actuarial Science in Finance and Investment, Kenya being a case study (2015)
- Exploring Opportunities through Research and Innovation (2018)
The chosen theme for the 2022 was Insurtech and Fintech. This was meant to gear the participants to develop and model ideas and products around the use of technology to automate and improve the current insurance models and the delivery and use of financial services respectively.
The team that emerged victorious in the 2022 National PDC, held at Daystar University was a group of students from Multimedia university with their innovative product: Digital Alcohol Detection System (DIGITALD), aimed at reducing the number of fatalities, property damages and number of fraudulent claims submitted annually as a result of accidents caused by drunk driving. Read more.
First runner-up was Priscilla Njaguri, a fourth year student at Moi university, with her product: Insurance for Professional papers. The inspiration behind her product was the numerous claims about how the actuarial professional papers, among others taken by different professions, are not only difficult to sit, but also expensive. Failing a paper would mean that one would have to retake it, which would consequently require repaying the full exam fees and proper revision. Time is a scarce resource and so is money and effort, but the number of times of failure are not.
“For actuaries, risk is an opportunity. And taking the professional exams is a risk that should be indemnified. At a reasonable premium, aspiring professionals can sit for an exam and in case they fail, they are compensated a certain percentage of the fee for a retake. The candidates will feel secure and motivated to want to sit for the exams! Talk of a more speedy, confident and secure path to professionalism,” she says.
To her, the competition proved one thing- that a broader view of risk and a more intimate collaboration between insuretech, fintech and skills of other professionals (lawyers, engineers and data gurus among others) will launch the actuarial profession and cement its reputation as an influential force in the global society. With the numerous emergence of risks, she believes that actuaries, while applying all their knowledge exhaustively, have a huge opportunity to offer a risk based and human-centred solution to the global citizens thus encouraging insurance penetration. She places emphasis on the essence of having additional skills such as creativity, an appetite for risk, and innovation other than the theoretical actuarial knowledge learnt in class for better identification of more intelligent parameters on the emerging risks and for attachment of a reasonable cost to each risk.
She adds, “ With the talented minds, rigour and vigour displayed by the competitors, it suffices to say that the future is bright for actuaries.”
Benaiah Wepundi, a law student at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) emerged third in the competition with his product: EasyHouse. The inspiration behind the development of this product was centred around the difficulty of finding affordable and reliable accommodations for university students. Unlike the rest, his product is implemented. See website
EasyHouse is an accessible online platform that connects university students from most parts of Africa (Nigeria, DRC Congo and Uganda among others) to property owners around various learning institutions. EasyHouse started as a simple listing platform where homeowners could put up their vacancy notices for students to look into, and has gradually grown since then regardless of the greatest challenge they face; financing.
Based on the experience he has had with starting and keeping his product on its feet, he advises that the current generation needs to get rid of the money-fast mentality and to avoid giving up
Many thanks to everyone who took part in this year’s PDC. We are looking forward to next year’s innovations and innovations. Cheers.