By Afedzi Abdullah, GNA
Biriwa (C/R), Aug. 17, GNA - Thirty-three young African scientific researchers are attending a four-day intensive workshop on Stochastic Optimal Control and Application (SOCA) with schools at Biriwa in the Central Region.
The workshop is being organised by the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Ghana, under the auspices of the Alexander von Humboldt and the German Ministry of Education and Research.
Researchers in disciplines relating to Probability Theory, Financial and Actuarial Mathematics, Insurance, Mathematics, Statistics and Economics from 13 African countries are attending the workshop.
Its focus is on initiating collaborative research among researchers in universities in Ghana and beyond as well as strengthening existing collaborations and initiatives.
The overall aim is to bring new insight into research directions of Financial and Actuarial Mathematics and find solutions to new problems arising.
Participants would be taken through topics such as; Introduction to Stochastic Control with Applications to Mathematical Finance, Optimal Portfolio with Risk Constraint and the Language Method and Controlability Results for Non Local Impulsive.
President of AIMS, Ghana, Professor Francis Kofi Allotey, noted that the study of Financial and Actuarial Mathematics was low in Sub-Saharan Africa.
He said the workshop was to help raise Financial Mathematics to a high level where African youth would appreciate and become part of it adding that it was important and essential, especially for those in the insurance industry.
He 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.
The Chairman of the Endowed Humboldt Research of AIMS Ghana, Dr Olivier Menoukeu Pamen, explained that the workshop would include a mini course, research talks and poster presentations in Stochastic Control Theory.
Dr Panem said it would also provide industry with new information about the model used to price products and financing management risks involved in their investment.
He noted that the insurance industry, for instance, 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 calculations on the premium of their clients.
He acknowledged that Financial Mathematics was not well developed in Sub-Saharan Africa due to lack of resources and appealed to African governments to invest in it.
Dr Panem advised young Africans to demystify the notion that mathematics was a difficult subject and take up courses in mathematical sciences.
Prof. Bernt Oksendal of the University of Oslo, Norway, said Financial Mathematics was very important for countries to deal with their finances in a professional way.
He admonished African Governments not to ignore what he described as the ‘new mathematics’ because it had a high potential of improving their economies.
GNA
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