New Growth Opportunities for Islamic Finance in Africa to Be Explored at IBSA 2013
More than 250 leading players, key regulators and thought leaders in the international Islamic banking and finance industry will be gathering on the 6th & 7th of November 2013 at the Djibouti Palace Kempinski, Djibouti, for the 2nd Annual Islamic Banking Summit Africa (IBSA 2013).
Held under the theme "Islamic Finance and Takaful: Capturing the Africa Opportunity", IBSA 2013, which is held under the official patronage of Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of the Republic of Djibouti and Head of Government, and supported by the Central Bank of Djibouti, will provide a high-profile platform to specifically focus on the opportunities and challenges that are forging the Islamic banking, finance, Takaful/ReTakaful, and investment landscape in Africa.
IBSA will also provide a powerful platform for industry players seeking to further build their presence in the dynamically evolving African markets for Islamic finance and to explore emerging opportunities which will further increase the momentum of growth.
Speaking ahead of the event, David McLean, Chief Executive of the Islamic Banking Summit Africa (IBSA) noted that "Africa has now been re-positioned as the third fastest growing region in the world, after the Middle East and Asia and is becoming an increasingly attractive destination for investments that are Shari'ah compliant".
Mr. McLean also said that "over the last decade, trade between African countries and the rest of the world has grown significantly, with economic linkages, in particular with the Middle East, strengthening further."
Mr. McLean went on to say that "increasing strong trade ties with the key nerve centres of Islamic finance such as the Middle East and Asia, a growing Muslim population, the need to finance large-scale infrastructure and manufacturing projects, as well as a large unbanked population and the funding needs of a burgeoning SME market, all provide tremendous growth opportunities for Islamic finance in Africa."
The two day event will be officially inaugurated on the 6th of November 2013 with a special keynote address by Ahmed Osman, Governor of the Central Bank of Djibouti. The inaugural session, also featuring Dr. Mohamed Khair Ahmed El Zubair, Governor of the Central Bank of Sudan, will review the Islamic finance landscape in Africa and will discuss key government and regulatory initiatives to support the further development of Islamic finance in Africa.
Source: Zawya
