ISLAMIC BANKING STARTS TO GROW IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
August 1st, 2013
ISLAMIC banks are big business in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, but not thus far in sub-Saharan Africa. The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), however, recently took a USD5 million, 15% equity stake in Kenya’s Gulf African Bank (GAB) to support corporate finance and lending to small and medium businesses - its first in the sub-Saharan Islamic bank sector.The move signals the potential of Islamic banking in sub-Saharan Africa, given the region's large Muslim population and the related appeal of interest-free banking that is compliant ...
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