The Need for Transparency

Professor Shehu Usman Rano Aliyu, Director of the International Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance at Bayero University, Nigeria stated Islamic banking and finance is the best option for tackling challenges faced by the Nigerian economy.

Making a welcoming address the Professor said even though Nigeria was ranked in 2014 as the largest economy in Africa, enormous challenges have overshadowed the successes in the growth rate.

Nigeria is Africa’s biggest economy and second only to Saudi Arabia in terms of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) members GDP ranking.

Islamic Finance Structures Provide Better Transparency

Corruption and wastage impact many countries and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries are no exception. Corruption has a devastating impact for many reasons, one of which is whilst funds are siphoned off abroad, the debt remains on the countries balance sheet and accrues interest charges, compounding larger year after year.

At a recent Islamic finance conference in Nigeria, Usman Hassan, CEO of Jaiz Bank, a Nigerian based Islamic Bank set up in 2003, urged the Nigerian government to take a closer look at sovereign sukuk issuances to fund infrastructure projects. He stated “Sukuk are very apt for Nigeria, as you cannot have failed projects…for every project you have, you are raising government money and it has to be accounted for, the financier (investor) will not allow abuse”. He urged to government to look at the structure of sukuk to see how it can be of benefit to the economy as a source of FDI from a new diverse investor base.