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Nigeria’s first non-interest bank has moved from being a regional bank to a national bank, with several branches and customers. JAIZ International was established on 11th of November 2011, and began the long walk to the actualization of their dreams. On 6 January 2012, operations commenced at the branches in Abuja, Kaduna and Kano. In 2013 it was permitted to increase shareholding capital to $92.3 million (NGN14.3 billion), and subsequently applied for a national banking license which it received in 2016. Audited financials from the company show that the company is fast growing to make up for the early years of little or no profit. Total assets grew 54% YOY, from N108.4 billion in 2019 to N167 billion in 2019, while deposits rose 50% to N127 billion, from the N85 billion recorded in 2018. The recently reported Q2 2020 unaudited reports show that the bank had a fair outing in the second quarter of the year, with a clear improvement across all indicators in comparison to Q2 2019.

Jaiz Bank has projected that the flagship non-interest bank will post a gross income of N5.41 billion in the fourth quarter with average pre-tax profit per average sales expected at 13.03%. The bank predicted that profit before tax will be N705.37 million while profit after tax is expected to close the three-month period at N634.83 million. Jaiz Bank Managing Director Hassan Usman said overall vision of the bank was to become the leading non-interest financial institution in Sub-Saharan Africa. The bank wants to develop small and medium enterprises (SMEs), grow with them and support them not only for profit making but to ensure the country achieves real growth. He noted that while the bank would continue to expand its operations across the country by opening more branches, it will significantly leverage on technology and bring the semi-banked and unbanked population into the formal economy.

Nigeria’s Jaiz Bank has been assigned positive rating by the Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA). This is the first rating for the bank as the first Sharia compliant bank in the country. The Bank gets an investment grade rating of BBB (Triple B) for the medium to long-term and A2 in the short-term (A Two) on the national scale. The IIRA also assigned it a foreign currency rating of B-/B (Single B Minus/B) and local currency rating of B/B (Single B/B) on the international scale with a ‘Stable’ outlook. The agency affirmed that when compared, Jaiz Bank fares well in terms of risk exposure with its gross non-performance falling below 10%.

#Nigeria's Jaiz Bank has recorded an impressive performance in the first half of this year. Gross earnings rose by 41% while pre and post-tax profits increased by 292% and 295% respectively. The half year report indicated that Profit Before Tax increased to N907 million from N231 million, while Net Profit after tax rose to N816 million from N207 million. The bank also grew its total income by 41% from N4.47 billion as at June 2018 to N6.31 billion at June 30th 2019. The balance sheet was further strengthened during the period with Total Assets rising by 33% from previous year end position of N108.46 billion to N144 billion. The above results further consolidated the growth trajectory of Jaiz Bank with a promise to end the year positively.

The Managing Director of Jaiz Bank Hassan Usman has said the bank would soon begin the disbursement of the $20m facility for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The bank had in March signed the agreement with the Islamic Corporation for the Development of Private Sector to finance SMEs with $20m (N6.1bn). Usman said the bank would soon begin the disbursement, adding that the fund would be disbursed before the end of the year. He said the bank had commenced a five year strategic plan to provide better services to its customers. For example, the bank had increased its visibility in Lagos by opening more branches and plans to extend to other regions of the country as well.

#Nigeria’s Jaiz Bank recorded significant growths in key performance indicators in 2017, making an average of a double of previous profit on every unit of transaction. The pre-tax profit-margin doubled from 5.5% in 2016 to 11% in 2017. Gross earnings rose by 40% from N6.18 billion in 2016 to N8.10 billion in 2017. Gross profit grew by 34% to N6.705 billion in 2017 as against N5.003 billion in 2016. Jaiz Bank had recorded another milestone on February 9, 2017 as the first non-interest financial institution to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Jaiz Bank Managing Director Hassan Usman attributed the impressive performance of the bank to the support from the board, management and staff of the bank. He assured that Jaiz Bank would provide a new future of wide-ranging financial services to all Nigerians.

Jaiz Bank and Islamic Corporation for the Development of Private Sector (ICD) have signed a $20 million line of agreement to finance the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) of Nigeria. The financing deal covers sectors such as industry, communications, technology, health, manufacturing and agriculture. Hassan Usman, Managing Director of Jaiz Bank, signed on behalf of the bank while Okan Altasil, the Regional Office Director of ICD, signed for the corporation. The ICD management said the reason for extending such financing to some Nigerian banks was because SMEs have crucial role to play in a country’s growth and development. The ICD had previously extended a total of $120 million line of financing facility for the development of SMEs in Nigeria.

Jaiz Bank, Wema Bank and SunTrust Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and secured $50 million from the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) for lending to SMEs. Under the terms of the MOU, SunTrust bank will get a financing of $10 million for lending purposes, Jaiz bank $20 million and Wema bank $20 million. Jaiz bank Managing Director Hassan Usman expressed his optimism about disbursement of the fund and said the bank has been supporting SMEs since it was created five years ago. According to Segun Oloketuyi, the Managing Director of Wema Bank, the funds will help bolster the Bank’s vision of building a sustainable retail sector by supporting micro, small and medium scale enterprises.

The Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria has ordered a forensic examination of a Jaiz Bank statement. The order was made sequel to an oral application made by Mr Sebastine T. Hon in a law suit filed against the bank and 11 others. Hon alleged that the statement of the bank was manipulated as the account did not reflect its true status. The judge ordered Jaiz Bank to make available the original or certified copy of the bank statements covering the amount available with the garnishees connecting Zamfara State Government.

The Central Bank of Nigeria released its guidelines for the operations of Non-Interest Banks (NIBs) in 2011 and
issued its first license to Jaiz Bank. At the same time, two conventional banks, Stanbic IBTC and Sterling Bank, received license to operate Islamic windows. Jaiz Bank commenced operations and remained Nigeria’s only full-fledged non-interest bank. However, Sterling Bank CEO Yemi Adeola recently revealed his plans to seek a license for a stand-alone Non-Interest Bank (NIB). He said the decision was informed by the feasibility studies conducted by the lender, judging from the potential market and financial resources of customers expected to embrace NIB. The number of banks in the country offering non-interest banking products is set to increase. SunTrust Bank Nigeria (SBN) and the Islamic Corporation for Development (ICD) signed an agreement to establish a new non-interest banking window in Nigeria.

In this interview the Managing Director of Jaiz Bank, Hassan Usman, speaks about Islamic banking in Nigeria. One of the main challenges is the high operating cost of banks, but Jaiz Bank managed to grow to a national bank. Starting in 2012 with only three branches, the bank expanded to 30 branches all over the country. The Nigerian government recently issued a N100bn Sukuk bond and Jaiz Bank was part of the process from the inception. The proceeds of the Sukuk will be dedicated to building roads across the country. Sukuk can ensure that projects are managed properly and there is no diversion. In terms of profitability, Jaiz Bank made profit in 2015 and even in 2016 in spite of the difficulty witnessed in the economy. According to Usman, 2017 looks even better because the fundamentals have started to improve and so the bank's performance will follow the trend of improved fundamentals.

Acccording to Jaiz Bank CEO Hassan Usman, more West African countries and companies are likely to adopt Sukuk to finance infrastructural development and corporate growth plans. He said the envisaged passion for Sukuk issuance in the near future could make the non-interest capital market grow bigger and faster than its conventional counterpart. Nigeria recently issued its maiden sovereign Sukuk and successfully raised N105bn for its N100bn Sukuk, raising optimism on the depth of the market. Usman added that Islamic banking had a lot of potential due to the economic growth in many West African nations supported by improving fundamentals, growing domestic demand and stronger regional integration.

Many West African countries and companies may fall back on Sukuk to finance infrastructural development and corporate growth plans. Managing Director of Jaiz Bank, Hassan Usman, said there could soon be a frenzy of the facility issuance in West Africa. Nigeria recently issued its maiden sovereign Sukuk. It successfully raised N105 billion for its N100 billion Sukuk. Usman added that with a population of about 329 million people, the emerging middle-class segment of the region is expected to boost demand for retail banking, takaful and Islamic funds. According to him, as the market for Islamic Finance develops in Nigeria, each segment of the market will provide potential career paths for young and middle-level professionals. He also noted it might take some time because the ecosystem is currently narrow with only one full-fledged bank, one window operation, one capital market operator and two Takaful operators.

After the first tier commercial banks in Nigeria, Jaiz Bank was the most active stock on the exchange with volumes of 7,179,550 with a total value of N4,682,686.00. The increased activity is indicative of swinging sentiments in favour of the stock. But the stock has underperformed the All Share Index (ASI) in the last six months as it returned a negative 45% while the ASI returned 40%. Jaiz Bank managed to grow its Gross Income in the first half year ending June to N3.25 billion from N2.56 billion. Income from Finance Investment grew 19.82% to N2.95 billion from N2.46 billion while Sukuk leapt 198.3% to N293.35 million from N98.35 million. Abdulfatah Ahmed, the Kwara State governor highlighted there was a lot of scope for growth for the bank and Islamic banking in Nigeria. Hassan Usman, the bank’s managing director, said he was optimistic about the future of the bank and therefore urged everyone irrespective of their religious background to key into the model.

Jaiz Bank CEO Hassan Usman said that #Nigeria would become one of the countries to successfully offer Sovereign Sukuk in local currency. The Federal Government floated around N100bn and according to him, the offer was to last for five days. Hassan said these on the sidelines of Jaiz Bank’s Customers Forum in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital and also revealed that the institution’s capital base had reached N15bn. He said that Islamic finance worldwide was novel, being in existence for about 40 years compared to conventional banking, which had lasted for over 300 years.

Malam Hassan Usman, CEO of JAIZ Bank, perfected a partnership with Borno State government on the reconstruction of the state economy.
Usman said, that the fourth branch of JAIZ Bank had been opened in Nigerias Maiduguri about five years ago. And it has so far been getting the strong support of the state government since the branch was opened. So he was in Nigeria to explore the ways and means to reciprocate this kind gesture by the state government. His bank wants to help Governor Kashim Shettima in all his efforts to turn things around, especially now that peace and normalcy are gradually being restored in Maiduguri and the entire state.
JAIZ bank has launched a programme, which is being implemented since the beginning of the rainy season, to provide small-holder farmers with inputs. It is working with the coordinator as well as the private sector partner for the state to provide the seeds, fertilizer and other inputs to the partner. The idea of the state government is to start with 5,000 farmers, which it wants to empower at this initial phase of the programme.

#Nigeria's Jaiz Bank has grown its capital base in five years from the initial N5 billion to over N15 billion. The bank disclosed that it is growing at an annual rate of 30% which makes it one of the strong players in Nigeria’s banking industry. CEO Hassan Usman said the management of the Bank grew Deposit Base from Zero to over N60 billion, and Asset Base increased from zero% to N40 billion. He added that the bank plans to grow its network through opening of additional new branches across the country. Jaiz Bank currently has a staff of 500 and has concluded plans to open new branches in Jos, Nassarawa, and Minna, as well as additional branches in Lagos. Commenting on the plan by the Debt Management Office (DMO) to float Sukuk, Usman described the move as a welcome development which is expected to go a long way in boosting the operations of the bank.

The Managing Director of Jaiz Bank, Hassan Usman, has assured that the bank’s loan profile is very healthy. Jaiz Bank, he noted, was not heavily or significantly exposed to the oil sector, but the bank’s exposure is to real estate. While justifying the listing of the bank’s shares in the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), he said Jaiz Bank’s activities remain transparent and open. Jaiz Bank has challenges like any growing institution. One of such challenges has to do with perception, as many people thought it was a charity organization. Other challenges include the enabling environment like infrastructure for non-interest banking like liquidity instruments. Another challenge is the limited number of qualified trained manpower to manage Islamic banking. Inspite of these challenges, Jaiz Bank has proved itself to be sustainable. It has grown into a national franchise with branches in South and South West and is also opening more branches in other parts of the country.

In #Nigeria Jaiz Bank has accumulated funds and is now ready to massively invest in Sukuk to finance in specific infrastructure projects in the country. Managing Director Hassan Usman said that the bank, being an Islamic bank, could not invest in interests yielding instruments and therefore had to wait until Sukuk was ready. He added that there are off-shore funds held by those who share similar non-interests philosophy of Jaiz Bank which could be brought into the country. Usman said that from a capital base of N5 billion, the bank has grown its capital base to about N50 billion. From a deposit of N3. 5 billion, it has grown to about N60 billion. From the initial three branches as a Regional Bank, Jaiz Bank has grown into a National Bank with 30 branches across the nation.

Jaiz Bank is now a public quoted company listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. To commemorate the listing, Jaiz Bank’s Executive Management, led by Chairman Dr Umaru Abdul Mutallab, were honoured with a closing gong ceremony to officially close trading on the bourse for the day. Hassan Usman, Jaiz Bank's CEO noted that the listing of the bank’s shares was a fulfillment of an earlier promise made at inception of the Bank. He added that the listing would elicit public confidence that Non-Interest Banking provides alternative model that contributes to the socio-economic development of the country. Oscar Onyema, CEO of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, said this listing would promote liquidity for the bank, enhance its value and increase its transparency.