The proposed Dubai Islamic Bank headquarters in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG
NMG
Summary
- Kenya has until now had only two fully-fledged Islamic banks, while five other conventional lenders have been offering Shariah-compliant services and products through “Islamic Windows”.
- CBK said DIB intends to exclusively offer Shariah compliant banking services in Kenya.
- DIB has a presence in Bosnia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sudan, Turkey and UAE.
Dubai Islamic Bank’s (DIB) formal entry
into the Kenyan market is expected to shake up locally-owned Islamic
lenders that have faced little competition in the segment for a decade.
The
Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) on Friday opened the door for the bank,
which is a fully owned subsidiary of Dubai Islamic Bank into the local
market after more than a year of waiting.
Kenya has
until now had only two fully-fledged Islamic banks, while five other
conventional lenders have been offering Shariah-compliant services and
products through “Islamic Windows”.
The CBK said in a statement on Friday that DIB intends to exclusively offer Shariah compliant banking services in Kenya.
“It
becomes the third fully Shariah compliant bank to be licensed in Kenya,
after Gulf African Bank Limited in 2007 and First Community Bank
Limited in 2008,” said CBK adding that DIBs entry is expected to expand
offerings in the market, particularly in the nascent Shariah compliant
banking niche.
The Dubai lender is expected to leverage
its financial muscle as it seeks to claim a piece of the fast growing
Islamic banking market.
As at September last year Dubai
Islamic Bank had an asset base of $47.6 billion (Sh4.85 trillion) and
capital of $7.4 billion (Sh754.8 billion).
DIB has a presence in Bosnia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sudan, Turkey and UAE.
The
CBK said DIB’s choice of Kenya as its entry point into Sub-Saharan
Africa signals “Kenya’s growing stature as a premier regional financial
services hub.”
“This also signifies the first entry of a
United Arab Emirates (UAE) bank in Kenya to support the long-standing
economic ties between Kenya and the UAE,” it said.
DIB
makes its foray into Kenya at a time authorities are keen to make Kenya a
hub for Islamic finance in Africa with ongoing reforms expected to
drive the growth of Islamic-finance operations.
The
Kenyan government has recently unveiled a package of initiatives aimed
at developing a policy framework for Islamic finance in the country.
No comments:
Post a Comment