From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi, emphasized the need for Islamic finance saying its principles of risk sharing, prudence , ethic, if supported by good regulatory system, would contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development goals.
He made the remarks while delivering a keynote address at the 3rd International Conference of the International Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance at Bayero University, Kano.
Sanusi stated that, the global Islamic financial services industry had led to significant growth all over the world, adding that within a period of four decades, it had grown from a niche to a mainstream financial intermediation system.
The monarch, who was the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), stressed that the industry has reached an overall total value of USD 1.88 trillion as of 2015, according to the 2016 IFSB Islamic Finance Services Industry Stability Report.
“Despite the fact that the legislation providing the establishment of profit and loss sharing banks was enacted as early as 1991, it took almost two decades for us to witness the licensing of the first Islamic bank in Nigeria” he recalled adding that today, there were three Islamic banks in Nigeria, made of one full fledged Islamic bank and two windows.
The Kano royal father said that the development of Islamic Finance in Nigeria was not limited to the banking sector, but also extends to both the insurance and capital market sectors.
He said that these sectors have embraced Islamic Finance with regulations, licensing of market institutions and issuance of guidelines for introducing Islamic finance products into the markets already in place.
He admitted that one of the significant accomplishments of Islamic finance in Nigeria was the development of the joint committee on alternative finance to develop a blueprint for issuing sovereign, sub-sovereign and corporate Sukuk for infrastructure development in Nigeria.
He, however, regretted that the Islamic finance system, in many African jurisdictions, had been wrongly perceived by non Muslims as an Islamisation or da’awah project, instead of perceiving it as an alternative financial product.
In his welcome remarks, the Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, represented by his Special Adviser on Islamic finance, Dr Yakubu Umar, said that the theme of this year conference, “Islamic banking and Finance: Financial Inclusion and Sustainable Development’ was timely and apt.