About Us
What ASABA stands for is Association of South African Black Actuarial Professionals
The Association of South African Black Actuarial Professionals (ASABA) is a non-profit organisation established in March, 2005 to address the dearth of actuarial and quantitative skills amongst previously disadvantaged communities in South Africa, by initiating a mutually beneficial set of skills development interventions.
WHY ASABA WAS CREATED
ASABA was created to directly tackle these issues through commitment, both as individuals and as an organisation, and establishment of three key functions: a holistic mentoring capability; a vacation work placement scheme; and a duty to make the actuarial profession in South Africa more accessible and inclusive of all races.
WHERE WE ESTABLISHED A PRESENCE
During 2005 the Association established a presence in both Johannesburg and Cape Town, ASABA immediately began to implement its vision through the launch of a number of programmes and initiatives, including the mentorship programmes for university students at the University of Witwatersrand (WITS) and the University of Cape Town (UCT), through the success of the growing vacation work pilot project with a small group of participating employers.
Our Objectives and Vision
OUR OBJECTIVES
- To promote training and technical education in the actuarial profession.
- To establish a fund to provide scholarships, bursaries, awards and loans to study, research and teaching related to or from the benefit of the actuarial profession.
- To provide career guidance and counselling services to persons attending secondary or tertiary school or other accredited higher education institutions.
- To create awareness of the work, objectives and ideals of ASABA and the actuarial profession in the Black community.
OUR VISION
- To realise a South African Actuarial Profession that represents the demographics of South Africa.

Nabeelah Kolia
President
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Nabeelah is a manager and qualified actuary in the Life Insurance practice of Deloitte Actuarial and Insurance Solutions based in Cape Town. She has gained life insurance, healthcare insurance and other consultancy experience.
Nabeelah is the ASABA representative on the Life Assurance Committee (LAC) of ASSA and also is a long-standing member of Microinsurance Committee of ASSA. Additionally, she is on the Committee involved in the setting and marking of the F202 Mock Exam.
Nabeelah is passionate about making a difference. She is immediate past Chair of the Actuarial Women’s Committee (AWC) and continues to run the AWC Leadership Development Programme. She also served on the EXCO of ASABA for the last two years.
When Nabeelah is not working or volunteering she is spending time with her family, travelling the world, and curling up with a good book.

Idelia Hoberg
Chair of AWC
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Idelia is a Partner at EY based in Johannesburg and leads the Africa Actuarial practice across five locations.
She is an experienced actuary (FIA, CERA) with technical expertise ranging from Life Reserving, Risk Capital Modelling, Enterprise Risk Management, Capital Management and Optimisation, and Risk Governance.
She started her career off in continental Europe where she worked in consulting and within the industry. She has been back on home ground since 2018.
She currently chairs the Actuarial Society of South Africa's ERM Committee and is a member of the SAM Phase II Sub-Committee, and she is an active member of the actuarial profession through working group initiatives. She has been part of the AWC since 2018, and prior to becoming Chair she was leading the Mentorship sub-committee.
She believes strongly in fairness and equal opportunity, and as such she is passionate about driving transformation and diversity in the actuarial profession.
As a result of her own healing and growth journey, she is also invested in addressing gender bias and discrimination in the workplace and empowering women in order to unlock their potential.

Anderson Pillay
Treasurer
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Anderson is a Consulting Actuary with almost 16 years of employee benefit experience.
He is the Co-founder, Director and Compliance Officer of Keystone Actuarial Solutions,
an independent employee benefits actuarial consulting firm based in Johannesburg.
He is also a Director and Treasurer of the Association of South African Black Actuarial Professionals,
an organization promoting the actuarial profession.
Anderson obtained the degree of Bachelor of Business Science (Hons) from the University Cape Town in 2005.
He went on to complete his actuarial studies, being admitted as a Fellow of the Actuarial Society of South Africa in 2016.
He is approved as a valuator by the FSCA and holds a practicing certificate from the Actuarial Society of South Africa.
He started his career in 2006 in the actuarial department at Alexander Forbes Financial Services. In August 2011, he joined Willis Towers Watson.
At Willis Towers Watson, Anderson was involved in the provision of actuarial valuation and consulting services to several South African retirement funds.
Anderson left Willis Towers Watson in November 2015 to join Liberty Life as the manager in their annuity product department. Anderson subsequently left Liberty and was one of the founding directors of Keystone Actuarial Solutions on 1 October 2017.

Tsietsi Ngobese
Head of Outreach
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Tsietsi Ngobese is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Wesolve4x (Pty) Ltd.
He currently serves as the Chairman of Wesolve4x Foundation and a passionate climate activist.
His entrepreneurial career began in 2002 as a street vendor, selling sweets at school from grade 2-12, and fruits and vegetables using a wheel barrow from house to house.
He holds a BSc degree in Actuarial science from the University of the Free State.

Muhammad Kolia
Secretary General
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Muhammad is a Senior Associate at PwC’s Actuarial, Risk, and Quants (ARQ) team in Cape Town,
where he joined the team after completing his Honours degree at UCT in Actuarial Science.
He has been an ASABA member since 2018, as well as a part of the SAADP programme for three of his years at university.
Muhammad is academically qualified, having completed his Fellowship exam in General Insurance in 2020 whilst also being due to transfer to the CERA designation in 2022.
Outside of his billable work, Muhammad is passionate about making a difference in the workplace and having a tangible impact.
To this effect, he involves himself in various subcommittees at PwC, including Recruitment, Vac Work, the Employment Equity (EE) Forum and Student & Associate matters.
By doing so, he is able to play an active role in contributing to the development of the younger generation of aspiring actuaries,
building relationships with various universities, involving himself in ASSA-related matters when handling student admin, and helping to foster a diverse and inclusive culture within his workplace.

Phila Karambakuwa
Deputy Secretary General
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Phila is an academically qualified associate actuary who is currently pursuing her fellowship qualification.
She is currently the Head of reporting and business insights at Sanlam Indie in Cape Town.
She has gained consulting, life valuations and data insights experience. She is passionate about encouraging and mentoring actuarial science graduates and students.
In her spare time she enjoys reading novels, hiking and baking.

Panashe Hakutangwi
Head of Mentorship
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Panashe is an academically qualified Assistant Manager at EY located in Johannesburg. He has worked across a range of local and global clients with focus on Non-life reserving, Regulatory standards (SAM) and IFRS 17 model validation and implementation. Within his role at EY he has performed actuarial consulting, HAF and audit related work.
Panashe has always strived to set an example for other black South Africans and create a more diverse actuarial profession. He is a firm believer that through different experiences and viewpoints you can find new solutions to the world's existing problems. He aims to change this world for the better.
When not working, Panashe enjoys wine tasting, hiking, video games and socialising with friends.

Fulufhelani Mashapha
Head of Membership & Communication
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Actuarial science UCT alumni Actuarial Specialist at Old
Mutual (Rest of Africa Actuarial services in Sandton).
Risk, Money & Insurance Content creator on YouTube (Fulufhelani Mashapha)
Finance contributor @ the economites
Co founder X Academy
Interests: people, money, food and arts (poetry, painting)
Life motto: The learning never ends

Mulisa Ramakuwela
Head of Vacation Work
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Mulisa is a senior actuarial analyst at Deloitte working in the Life team.
He started working at the beginning of 2019 straight from varsity.
He has close to 4 years of work experience and he studied Bcom actuarial science at UCT and graduated in 2018.
Outside of work, he enjoys running and is a big sports fanatic from football, cricket, tennis etc.