Islamic Banking in Nigeria moving in right direction

Jaiz Bank is the first and only fully fledged licensed non – interest bank in Nigeria set up to carry out operations in line with the principles of Islamic banking, declared its first profit since it launched in 2012.

Chairman, Alh Umaru Abdul Mutallab announced a N158 million profit whilst stating the bank has grown its total assets by 24 per cent in the 2014 business year from N33.9bn in 2013 to N42bn. Total earnings grew by 114 per cent from N11.5bn in 2013 to N24.5bn, while total income increased by 220 per cent from N915m in 2013 to N2.94bn in 2014.

Looking for Central Bank Support

Mr Mutallab called on the Central Bank of Nigeria to support the operation of the Islamic finance sector through the provision of shariah complaint financial instruments.

He stated, “During the year, the bank was able to drive itself to break even; a feat that is highly phenomenal when one considers the fact that there is no platform yet for the bank to make income from its treasury management activities due to the absence of Sharia-compliant liquidity instruments in the market”. He further added “We hope that with the emergence of other players and growing interest in Sukuk by sub-national institutions, adequate compliant instruments will be available in the market in no distant time.