New ASZ president outlines vision
ACTUARIAL Society of Zimbabwe’s (ASZ) new president Prosper Matiashe (pictured above) has laid out his plan to push for the adoption of the Actuaries Bill into law to create pathways for aspiring actuaries.
Matiashe took over the ASZ presidency from his predecessor, Tafadzwa Chiduza.
ASZ is an essential professional body that plays a crucial role in risk management, financial planning and insurance across various sectors.
In an interview, Matiashe said that his primary focus was to expedite the Actuaries Bill, ensuring its passage through Treasury and eventual presentation in parliament.
“My priority first and foremost is to finalise the Actuaries Bill and to get it to the Ministry (Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion) and eventually to parliament,” he said. “It is something that will transform our profession. If you look at other professions like accountants, lawyers, they have an Act that governs their activities. So that is a key priority for me.”
He said that he planned to provide career guidance in schools through the society to inspire and educate younger generations on the requirements and the importance of the profession.
“Another key priority for me is education to create pathways for more actuaries. We want to create a situation where a child in any village in Zimbabwe aspires to be an actuary and can get opportunities to be an actuary,” Matiashe said.
“What does it mean? It means providing more career guidance to schools so that they already know that I can be an actuary and they aspire and know what is required to be an actuary.”
Matiashe aims to increase the society’s visibility and participation in national development initiatives such as the road accident fund, national health insurance, and pension funds by collaborating with regulators.
Key among the regulators Matiashe will be pushing to collaborate with is the Insurance and Pensions Commission (Ipec) and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).
“I am also keen to ensure that our visibility and participation in the national development initiatives are increased. Some of them include the road accident fund, the national health insurance, enhancing pensions funds, and amounts that we give to pensioners,” he said.
“So, we will be supporting the regulators, be it Ipec, be it the RBZ, be it the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe; so that there is more upliftment in terms of policy order values for pensioners, and the need for pensioners and other insurance policy orders.”
Matiashe believes that actuaries can drive socioeconomic progress by designing relevant and accessible insurance solutions.
“Ultimately, we also want to enable actuaries to be at the forefront of product development so that more people can buy insurance. Right now, we buy motor insurance because it is by law. e second thing that we buy is funeral insurance, health coverage, and insuring our buildings,” he said.
e ASZ boss also envisions a profession with more qualified actuaries working in cutting-edge labs along with fair remuneration, increased leadership roles in the profession, and actuaries serving in government.
“I also see that we will be having our own head office, and maybe have an Actuaries Act. I hope to see more of us become CEOS, managing directors, and executives running companies, and hopefully, we will also be in government,” Matiashe said.
“I would be keen also to establish, with the support of the government, a government actuarial department. e same value that we are delivering to the private sector should also benefit the government, so, the establishment of a government actuarial department is something that we are keen on.”