The four-day workshop, under the auspices of the Alexander von Humboldt and the German Ministry of Education and Research, is being attended by 32 participants from Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, Belgium, France and Benin.

It is focusing on initiating collaborative research among researchers at the universities in Ghana and beyond as well as strengthening existing collaborations and initiatives.  The workshop would include mini courses, research talks and poster presentations in stochastic analysis, financial and actuarial mathematics and science communication.

The overall aim is to bring new insight in research directions of financial mathematics and find solutions to new problems arising in financial and actuarial mathematics. Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Chairman of the Endowed Humboldt Research of AIMS Ghana, Mr Olivier Menookeu Pamen, explained that the workshop was in two components.

He said the first component concentrated on stochastic analysis, financial and actuarial mathematics, while the second would be on science communication. He said science communication skills were imperative for the professional growth of researchers and socio-economic development.

“The science communication component of the workshop is geared towards preparing researchers to excel in an increasingly competitive world. ‘It will discuss how researchers can seek for funding for their research and how they can present their research to scientific and non-scientific audience,” he said.

 He said the workshop would be an excellent occasion for the participants and young researchers to increase their knowledge not only in the areas of financial and actuarial mathematics but also designing internationally competitive research proposals and effective communication of research findings.

Mr Panem said it would also provide the industry with new information about the model used to price products and financing management risks involved in their investment. Professor Emmanuel Kwame Essel, Academic Affairs Director of AIMS, Ghana said the workshop was important and very essential , especially for those in the insurance industry.

He noted that the insurance industry was embattled with numerous challenges such as failure to pay claims to clients because they failed to employ persons with proper actuarial knowledge to make actuarial calculations on the premium of their clients.

He has therefore recommended to the National Insurance Commission to come out with stringent policies that would compel insurance companies to employ people with actuarial degrees.

He argued that people with actuarial skills were trained in insurance problems and that they would be able to properly manage the premiums of clients and pay claims as required. Prof Essel said AIMS as a mathematical sciences Institution, taught students mathematics related to finance, industry and the academia such that whoever passed through the institution would be equipped enough to continue a career in any of those directions.