IslamicFinance.de

Nigeria's debt management office (DMO) and capital market regulator have agreed to collaborate on a debut issuance of sovereign Islamic bonds (sukuk) before the end of the year, the two bodies said. The move could spur wider issuance of sukuk in one of Africa's most liquid debt markets, following similar sovereign deals from Senegal and Ivory Coast. Issuing a sovereign sukuk will attract significant amounts of affordable capital from the Gulf countries and other established Islamic markets around the world into Nigeria, the DMO said in its statement on Wednesday. The statement did not give a potential size for a maiden sukuk deal, although the DMO is a regular issuer of five- and ten-year local-currency bonds.

Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, has said Islamic Banking institution can revitalise the troubled Nigerian economy if well adopted. According to him, one of the major benefits of the system is to reduce poverty. He spoke yesterday at the Third Annual Holiday Convention of the Guild of Muslim Professionals (GMP) at the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), Topo, Badagry in Lagos State. The former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, who disclosed that non-Muslim countries including Cote d’Voire, Senegal and Gambia are picking interest in the Sukuk, the Islamic banking system, also called for increased awareness on the Islamic Banking system. He urged scholars to avail themselves of the opportunity of the training sessions organised by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Chairman, JAIZ Bank, Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab has denied that the institution is distressed and called for more players in the Islamic banking system in a bid to compete favourably in Nigeria’s financial sector. He made the call in Kaduna while donating cash and non-food items to two foundations by the JAIZ Foundation, saying the bank’s deposit base was increasing astronomically. Engr. Garba Muhammad, Mutallab disclaimed text messages in circulation that the bank was in trouble and assured that it was growing day by day. The bank has recently got approval in principle for a national licence to operate in all regions of Nigeria, he added.

Nigerian financial operators have identified Sukuk Islamic bond as a major tool that can be used in closing the country’s gap on infrastructural deficit. Raising from the two days 2nd international conference on Islamic Finance which opened on the 30th Nov and closed 1st of Dec 2015 in Abuja, financial experts from the country’s public and private sector having exhaustively deliberated with their international global counter parts, resolved to urgently turn up the volume on enlightenment campaigns so as to create the required awareness to investors and operators on the potentials of Sukuk.

Nigerian financial operators have identified Sukuk Islamic bond as a major tool that can be used in closing the country's gap on infrastructural deficit. Raising from the two days 2nd international conference on Islamic Finance which opened on the 30th Nov and closed 1st of Dec 2015 in Abuja, financial experts from the country's public and private sector having exhaustively deliberated with their international global counter parts, resolved to urgently turn up the volume on enlightenment campaigns so as to create the required awareness to investors and operators on the potentials of Sukuk. The conference also recognized and appreciated individuals whom have contributed immensely in Islamic banking in Nigeria and globally.

The Directors General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) Aminu Diko and Debt Management Office (DMO) Dr. Abraham Nwakwo have said that Nigeria would not be left behind in benefiting from the growing global Sukuk. They gave the assurance on Tuesday in Abuja at the two-day 2015 International Conference on Islamic Finance themed: "Islamic Capital Market: Infrastructure, Sukuk and Asset Management in Africa". Based on a 30-year National Integrated Infrastructure Master plan (NIIMP), Nigeria requires an expenditure of US$ 3.10 trillion in 30 years covering energy, transport, agriculture and water resources, social infrastructure and vital registration and security.

Speakers at a conference have urged the financial institutions and civil society to play their role by supporting an inclusive financial sector policy framework for equal access to financial services.
The workshop, which was attended by the scholars of Indonesia, Nigeria, Kenya, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Uganda, Sudan and US, is focused on bringing forth recommendations that will help in devising sustainable strategy for development of inclusive finance.
The two-day moot is jointly organised by International Institute for Islamic Economics of IIUI in collaboration with Islamic Research and Training Institute, Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah.
Speaking on the occasion as the chief guest, Islamic International University Islamabad President Dr Ahmed Yousif Al-Draiweesh stressed on the Muslim economic researchers to work for devising strategies for an interest-free transparent economic system. He was of the view that financial issues be observed in the light of Islamic teachings. The IIUI president hoped that conference would bring beneficial and significant recommendations pertaining to the financial and economic issues.

Jaiz Bank Plc, Nigeria’s sole Islamic bank has announced the appointment of Mahe Abubakar as the acting Managing Director/CEO of Jaiz Bank Plc.
Until his appointment, Abubakar was an Executive Director in charge of Business Development.
A statement from the Head, Corporate Communications Department of the Bank, Idris Salihu said Abubakar is taking over from Muhammad Nurul Islam, whose two-year contract ends on the 17th of November, 2015.
Salihu said the Board expressed gratitude to Islam for his innumerable contributions towards the growth and success of Jaiz Bank Plc in the last two years.
Nurul Islam joined Jaiz Bank in November 2013 and turned it around from a negative balance-sheet to a positive result in 2014. “He came in on a Technical Agreement Jaiz Bank has with the Islamic Bank of Bangladesh to train and put the staff of Jaiz Bank through Islamic Banking because of their long experience in the subsector” the statement said.
Jaiz Bank is now operating in 21 locations from the 10 locations he met. Under Islam’s leadership, Jaiz also obtained Approval-in-Principle for a license from the Central Bank of Nigeria to operate nationwide.

Ambassador Adamu Babangida Ibrahim, a banker, has served as Nigerian Ambassador to the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Guinea. Ambassador Ibrahim is the pioneer Director-General, Jaiz Charity and Development Foundation, a charity arm of the Jaiz Bank. Jaiz Foundation uses the income that the bank cannot recognise under their profit and loss as Halal income for charity purposes. These monies are supposed to be used for charity and development purposes for interventions, especially in the poor and underserved people for economic empowerment, for intervention in health, education and so forth.

Islamic banking has gradually been making inroads into the Nigerian banking system. But as a renowned Islamic finance and risk management expert and Registrar of the Islamic Institute of Accounting and Finance in Nigeria (IIAF), Dr. Busari Shaamsuddeen Akande said, there are grey areas in the strict practice of Islamic banking. Islamic banks, Dr Akande asserts, suffer from an identity crisis in practising the system. He delivered the paper titled, “Ethical Challenges and Product Innovation Crisis for Islamic Banks”at the South-South Summit on Islamic banking. The underlying fact of the paper is that the major crisis is that Islamic banking products are modelled after existing conventional bank products.

The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Alan Yarrow has urged Nigeria to consider all sources of finance as a means for attracting investment. In particular the Mayor during a trip to Nigeria was keen to highlight the City of London as a leading centre for Islamic finance and stated Islamic finance can provide substantial investment for Nigeria. He suggested the North of Nigeria would in particular benefit from Islamic financial products. Yarrow who met with financial sector regulators and operators in Abuja last week, said London had the capacity to help Nigeria to deepen its Islamic financial system.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the City of London on Tuesday pledged to work together to deepen Islamic finance in Nigeria in order to bring financial inclusion to Nigerian Muslims and non-Muslims averse to traditional financial system and products. The Lord Mayor of London, Mr. Alderman Yarrow said London with six Islamic banks and another 20 lenders currently offering Islamic financial products and services had the capacity to help Nigeria to deepen its Islamic financial system. Meanwhile, the commission is considering modalities for setting up a Sharia advisory council as a body of experts to advise it on non-interest product applications.

Muhammad Islam, the managing director of Jaiz Bank Plc, has assured the bank's shareholders that it will declare dividend from the 2017 financial year. He said Jaiz, which started operations in 2012, was able to break even within three years because of its adherence to regulatory requirements. He explained the bank has three major categories of operations. The number one category is trade mode – that is buying and selling. Jaiz buys goods at the request of a customer and sells it to the customer adding our own profit margin. The profit margin is the bank's returns. On the outlook for the Bank, Islam said the bank wants to implement the vision of the directors of the bank not only to go national but internationally. That means in the entire West African region and beyond.

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has urged the management of Jaiz Bank to embark on public awareness and financial education on the benefits of non-interest banking practice to attract more customers. Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, NDIC's managing director, informed the team that the corporation had developed a non-interest banking deposit insurance fund framework in May. He said that the framework was designed to create a level playing field and provide deposit protection for depositors involved in non-interest banking and protect them against any possible losses. In addition, he said that the corporation was in the process of appointing committee of experts to advise it on all issues relating to Deposits Insurance Scheme (DIS) for non interest banking.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted a na­tional licence to Jaiz Bank and a waiver on the reduc­tion of its liquidity ratio from 30 per cent to 10 per cent. The licence will enable Jaiz Bank operate in any part of the country. The Managing Director and Chief Executive of Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Al­haji Umaru Ibrahim, informed that the corpo­ration had developed a non-interest banking deposit insurance fund framework in May 2015, in order to provide depos­it protection for depositors involved in non-interest banking, in addition to training its staff in Malaysia in this area of banking. The NDIC was in the process of ap­pointing a committee of experts to advice it on all is­sues relating to Deposits Insurance Scheme (DIS) for non-interest banking, he added.

The Islamic Development Bank is set to invest $98 million (N19.5bn) in the educational project which will be implemented in nine Nigerian states. Ahmad Ali, who led the bank executives to host the meeting with the Emir of Kano on Saturday, September 19, in Saudi Arabia, said that this project had been successful in Niger and Chad republics where the Madrasa and Quranic schools were worked upon in such a way that it facilitated the graduates of the schools to enrol in public schools. The establishment of this program will help Nigeria overcome some of its education challenges like illiteracy. He said the board of the bank has approved the investment and is awaiting the final approval from Nigerian authorities.

Nasarawa State governor,Tanko Al-Makura has appealed to the chairman, JAIZ Bank for the establishment of the bank in the state. The governor made the appeal in Lafia when he received a delegation of the bank led by its chairman, Dr. Umar Abdumutallab at the Government House. Al-Makura explained that the benefits of establishing JAIZ Bank in the state are enormous and capable of turning around the economic fortunes of the citizenry. Earlier, the chairman of the bank, Dr. Abdumutallab assured the governor that the bank would establish branches in Nasarawa State.

With the age-old funding challenges that Small, Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) have to contend with and the steady ascendancy of non-interest banking, analysts x-ray the possibility of Islamic banking bridging the funding gap in the SME sector, writes Olaseni Durojaiye. Reacting to enquiries on capital markets as a source of access to fund by SMEs, Chief Executive Officer of Global Analytics Derivatives, Tope Fasua, had contended that the Nigeria Capital Market was not accustomed to providing financing for SMEs at the present and argued that this may be due to issues bordering on sharp practices on the part of some of the listed corporation and companies in the bourse.

Legislation gaps are really challenging African countries’ intent to effectively issue the sukuk, which could help fund the continent’s huge infrastructure needs, Standard & Poor’s credit rating agency said on Thursday, in a new report. To date, African sovereigns have issued just about $1 billion of sukuk instruments, compared with global sukuk issuance of an average $100 billion per year over the past five years, says S&P. In Nigeria, Osun State has issued a N10 billion ($51m) sukuk yielding 14.75 percent, the first and currently the only Islamic bond from the Africa’s largest economy. S&P believes that regulations and fiscal incentives could speed Islamic Finance Development on the continent.

Nigeria’s Jaiz Bank has doled out N500 million to charity through its Jaiz Foundation. Mallam Ismail Adamu, the Group Head, Public Sector of the bank said that the bank had a capital base of N42 billion as of June, 2015 and a customer base of 139,977 with 73 per cent of them Christians. Adamu, who represented the bank’s Managing Director, Muhammad Nurul-Islam, said that the bank in 2014 made a profit of N157 million. He said that the bank renders several services ranging from Deposit, Mobile banking, Automated Teller Machine (ATM), Internet banking and other Islamic services, while all haram (Illegal) money’s are given out to charity through Jaiz Foundation.