The opening of the Islamic financial services (IFS) sector in Ghana is expected to create new financing and lending opportunities in the coming years, with sharia-compliant banking offering particular potential in the retail and small and medium-sized enterprise segments. In Ghana there is currently just one sharia-compliant financial institution – Ghana Islamic Microfinance, which began as an NGO – though there is significant scope for growth. The Bank of Ghana (BoG) may be preparing to issue the country’s first licence for a sharia-compliant bank in late 2015 or early 2016, with an accompanying reform to the regulatory framework also expected to be implemented.