Joseph Kyalo Mung’atu

This study proposes a hybrid forecasting model that integrates the Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model with a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network to estimate Value at Risk (VaR) in the Rwandan foreign exchange market. The model is designed to capture both volatility clustering and temporal dependencies in daily exchange rate returns. Using daily data on USD, EUR, and GBP from 2012 to 2024, we evaluate the model’s performance relative to standalone GARCH(1,1) and LSTM models. Empirical results show that the hybrid model improves VaR estimation accuracy by up to 10%, especially during periods of elevated market volatility. These improvements are validated through MSE, MAE, and backtesting statistics. The enhanced accuracy is particularly relevant in emerging markets, where exchange rate dynamics are highly nonlinear and sensitive to external shocks. The proposed approach offers practical insights for financial institutions and regulators seeking to improve market risk assessment in emerging economies.

This study presents a comprehensive mathematical framework that applies fluid dynamics to model the spatial spread of infectious diseases with low mortality rates. By treating susceptible, infected, and treated population densities as fluids governed by a system of partial differential equations, the study simulates the epidemic’s spatial dynamics. The Monotone Upwind Scheme for Conservation Laws is employed to enhance the accuracy of numerical solutions, providing a high-resolution approach for capturing disease transmission patterns. The model’s analogy between fluid flow and epidemic propagation reveals critical insights into how diseases disperse geographically, influenced by factors like human mobility and environmental conditions. Numerical simulations show that the model can predict the evolution of infection and treatment population densities over time, offering practical applications for public health strategies. Sensitivity analysis of the reproduction number highlights the influence of key epidemiological parameters, guiding the development of more efficient disease control measures. This work contributes a novel perspective to spatial epidemiology by integrating principles of fluid dynamics, aiding in the design of targeted interventions for controlling disease outbreaks.

A fully parametric accelerated failure time (AFT) model with a flexible, novel modified exponential Weibull baseline distribution called the extended exponential Weibull accelerated failure time (ExEW-AFT) model is proposed. The model is presented using the multi-parameter survival regression model, where more than one distributional parameter is linked to the covariates. The model formulation, probabilistic functions, and some of its sub-models were derived. The parameters of the introduced model are estimated using the maximum likelihood approach. An extensive simulation study is used to assess the estimates’ performance using different scenarios based on the baseline hazard shape. The proposed model is applied to a real-life right-censored COVID-19 data set from Sudan to illustrate the practical applicability of the proposed AFT model.

Maize yield prediction in the sub-Saharan region is imperative for mitigation of risks emanating from crop loss due to changes in climate. Temperature, rainfall amount, and reference evapotranspiration are major climatic factors affecting maize yield. They are not only interdependent but also have significantly changed due to climate change, which causes nonlinearity and nonstationarity in weather data. Hence, there exists a need for a stochastic process for predicting maize yield with higher precision. To solve the problem, this paper constructs a joint stochastic process that acquires joints effects of the three weather processes from joint a probability density function (pdf) constructed using copulas that maintain interdependence. Stochastic analyses are applied on the pdf and process to account for nonlinearity and nonstationarity, and also establish a corresponding stochastic differential equation (SDE) for maize yield. The trivariate stochastic process predicts maize yield with R 2 = 0.8389 and M A P E = 4.31 % under a deep learning framework. Its aggregated values predict maize yield with R 2 up to 0.9765 and M A P E = 1.94 % under common machine learning algorithms. Comparatively, the R 2 is 0.8829% and M A P E = 4.18 % , under the maize yield SDE. Thus, the joint stochastic process can be used to predict maize yield with higher precision.

In this paper, a randomised pseudolikelihood ratio change point estimator for GARCH model is presented. Derivation of a randomised change point estimator for the GARCH model and its consistency are given. Simulation results that support the validity of the estimator are also presented. It was observed that the randomised estimator outperforms the ordinary CUSUM of squares test, and it is optimal with large variance change ratios.

Quantile regression provides a method of estimating quantiles from a conditional distribution density. It is achieves this by minimizing asymmetrically weighted sum of absolute errors thus partitioning the conditional distribution into quantiles. Lower conditional quantiles are of interest in estimation of Value-at-Risk because they indicate downward movement of financial returns. Current risk measurement methods do not effectively estimate the VaR since they make assumptions in the distribution tails. Financial data is sampled frequently leading to a heavier tailed distribution compared to a normal and student t distribution. A remedy to this is to use a method that does not make assumptions in the tail distribution of financial returns. Little research has been done on the usage of quantile regression in the estimation of portfolio risk in the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The main aim of this study was to model the portfolio risk as a lower conditional quantile, compare the performance of this model to the existing risk measurement methods and to predict the Value-at-Risk. This study presents summary of key findings and conclusion drawn from the study. From the fitted conditional quantile GARCH model 62.4% of VaR can be explained by past standard deviation and absolute residual of NSE 20 share index optimal portfolio returns. The fitted model had less proportion of failure of 7.65% compared to commonly used VaR models.

The current fixed car-year pricing of auto insurance is inefficient and actuarially inaccurate since motorists in the same risk class pay the same amount of premium regardless of the number of miles covered by the different vehicles. In this paper, a simple alternative, the pay as you drive insurance, was proposed whereby motorists only pay for the mileage covered by their vehicles. The main objective was to find a suitable probability distribution that would be used to model the per kilometer risk premiums for the total aggregate claims cost. A case study was done for a company in Kiambu county. The data collected consisted of 5 variables in 194 categories whereby the total aggregate claims cost was the dependent variable. The data collection technique was via a census. The most appropriate model was found to be the zero inflated negative binomial model. The significant factors were found to be the make of the vehicle, annual mileage, and present value of the vehicle. In addition to this, mileage was also found to be positively correlated to the total aggregate claims cost.