Hussein Al Qemzi, group chief executive officer of Noor Investment Group and CEO of Noor Islamic Bank, believes that Islamic finance has the potential to evolve beyond its niche market and become the globally accepted norm in banking. But before it can do this, it must diversify its products and services, as well as achieve greater standardisation.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's managing director for the southern and eastern Mediterranean region, Hildegard Gacek, explains how expertise and past experience are now enabling the EBRD to assist Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia through a period of great economic and political change.
With sharia-compliant investments outperforming their 'conventional' counterparts, appetite for these products can only be expected to grow. But the industry is still too fragmented, according to Ian Lancaster of Cogent Asset Management, with a lack of cross-border connectivity preventing it from achieving critical mass.
The growth that has characterised the rise of the Islamic finance industry has thus far evaded the asset management segment of the market, with a dearth of institutions focused on the creation of sharia-compliant investment products. John A Sandwick of Islamic Wealth & Asset Management assesses the situation.
The Banker's annual Top Islamic Financial Institutions ranking shows that growth has dropped into single digits for the first time since the ranking began. This, combined with the restructuring of sharia-compliant operations at major players such as HSBC, shows an industry that is entering a new phase of maturity; a phase that is, however, still rich with opportunity.
A new generation of sovereign wealth funds – from resource-rich economies in Africa and Latin America – has emerged over the past few years. While these new funds are still relatively small, their impact could be sizable if they enable their source countries to secure stable economic growth and mitigate future risks associated with the booms and busts of the commodity cycle.
The Arab world has captured the wrong kind of attention in recent years as the Arab Spring uprisings and their aftermath have dominated global headlines. However, The Banker's Top 100 Arab Banks rankings show a banking industry that is well capitalised and well run.
As Dubai has grown, so has its role in the global transaction services industry, with the emirate now serving as the nerve centre of all trade taking place across the Middle East and north Africa. And as Dubai sets out its stall to become the next renminbi hub, this role only looks set to grow.
Investor confidence in the United Arab Emirates has returned to a position of strength, posting impressive profits on the back of GDP growth. However, the country's central bank is pushing through legislation to prevent a repeat of the mistakes that led to its economic collapse in 2009.