IslamicFinance.de

Through the acquisition of the local Islamic insurance company, Takafol SA, by Absa, it is once more underlined that the mainstream banks in South Africa are taking Islamic finance as a serious niche market business.
The Takaful premium market in South Africa is at this point estimated at about 3 billion South African rands (about $420 million), which is very modest compared to the conventional insurance market.
Banks such as Absa and Standard Bank posess clear strategies of growth and expansion beyond South Africa to sub-Saharan Africa, and Islamic banking and insurance are an attractive component of this offering especially in countries with large and affluent Muslim populations.