Research & Reports
Africa. The Next Frontier for Islamic Finance
In the search for new markets and prospects, Africa remains a region with relatively untapped potential. Africa currently accounts for more than 2% of global Islamic banking assets and 0.5% of sukuk outstanding. However, as a driving force of the African economy is a population more than 1 billion, increasingly urbanised people, the need for more foreign investment shows huge potential. It has been estimated that the need for infrastructure financing alone amounts to USD93bln per year with the financing gap for these plans being around USD31bln per year. Investment financing, including for projects related to the commodity sector and the growing halal industry, has seen both government and corporate sectors exploring Islamic finance as a source of funding.