Two students from the Strathmore Institute of Mathematical Sciences (SIMS) under the Strathmore Actuarial Students’ Society (SASS) Club were privileged to attend a one-day conference on Actuarial day at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania on Friday 18^th May to represent SASS at the event. 7 Kenyan students participated at the event representing University of Nairobi, Daystar University, Karatina University and Strathmore. Our students got to interact with regional university students and actuarial professionals at the event.

The venue was at Nyerere hall at Dar-es-salaam University in Tanzania. It was lively and educative to all the guests and students who were present. Key speakers including Mr. Sadi Shemliwa, Mr. Lugano Mkisi, Mr. James Tenga, Dr. Mashaka Mkandawile and Sir Michael Cohen representing their respective companies took time to describe the professional actuarial world.

Some of the companies and industry players present included; African Risk Insurance Society (ARIS), Tanzanian Mercantile Exchange, Tanzanian Insurance Corporation Ltd, Workers Compensation Fund, Capital Markets and Securities Authority TZ (CMSA), i.e Muhanna &Co Actuaries and Consultants, Actuarial and Risk Consulting Limited (ARC) and MGen Insurance.

The event was a good platform for students to understand the Actuarial perspectives in the industrial economy on the East African front. The theme of the event was “Turning risk into gold”. The information shared helped in identifying which areas one might be interested in majoring as they grow academically and professionally. The interaction with the various representatives of the respective companies, widened the thinking of the students. Encouraging them to keep on moving forward in their careers in view of a variety of emergent industries and the yet to be explored opportunities they present, acknowledging the constant evolution of the industry.

During the event students from different universities like Dar-es-salaam University and Karatina University presented their insurance prototype products. The products were self-researched and evaluated by the students for example; a No-claim discount model (NCD), key personnel insurance and finally the Micro insurance market product which was presented by the winning team from the Kenya Product Design Competition 2017. A major to the eager attendants highlight was Sir Michael Cohen’s explanation alternative processes of qualifying as an actuarial analyst; through the Certified Actuarial Analyst (CAA) route as opposed to the rigorous process of qualifying as a fellow of the Institute of Faculty of Actuaries UK (FIA) or Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries (FFA) designation.

One of the students who attended the conference is a 4^th year BBS Actuarial Science student. According to him the event was not only an eye opener of the state of actuarial capacity in the East Africa region but also a chance to learn how to seize the opportunities available in East Africa. He also appreciated the fact that Kenya is the regional hub in terms of actuarial capacity as the various companies present acknowledged that.

This year, a couple of Actuarial Students under SASS will be presenting their insurance products at the Annual Actuarial Product Design Competition 2018 at Catholic University of East Africa on 7^th and 8^th June 2018.

Article by Margaret Mbugua (BBS Actuarial 2^nd year) and Eric Ng’ang’a (BBS Actuarial 4^th year).