The growing potential in Africa is expected to create more opportunities for Islamic finance, in light of its robust economic prospects and rising consumer base. As Islamic financial industry continued to experience growth, there is a dire need in highly skilled and talented human capital workforce that can drive the future developments and innovations of the industry.

The rapid development of Islamic finance in various jurisdictions will open the opportunity for Islamic finance to further prosper in the CIS region given the advancement of global financial integration and the natural progression of the Islamic financial industry.

The global Islamic fund and wealth management sector continued to experience growth due to the increasing a uence of investors who wish to invest surplus funds in a Shariah-compliant manner and to diversify their investment through Shariah-compliant funds.

Being the backbone of both developed and emerging economies, SMEs and MSMEs have limited access to finance, resulting in a funding gap. Islamic finance, with its portfolio of asset and equity-based financing solutions and its foundational philosophy of achieving financial inclusion, is well suited to bridge this gap.

There has been a growing interest toward SRI sukuk or green sukuk lately, with a number of sukuk of this class being issued in the global market to finance environmentally friendly projects. This report looks at SRI & green sukuk’s future as well as the challenges surrounding its growth.

The Islamic finance industry’s geographical presence has grown beyond its traditional markets in the Middle East and South East Asia to include new players from diverse regions such as Africa, East Asia and the Americas. Given the bright prospects for the industry in these markets, it is likely that Islamic finance will continue to expand there.

In 3Q 2015, total global Islamic assets under management (AuM) stood at USD60.2 billion. The sector is conservatively projected to grow by 5.05% per annum for the next five years to reach USD77 billion in value by 2019. This is substantiated by a number of facts, such as the average growth rate of Islamic funds at 9.55% per annum over the past five years.

The growth of talented human capital is an essential step towards a sustainable Islamic finance system. Globally, while many countries are hindered by a shortage of skilled Islamic finance workforce, they are also implementing initiatives to counteract this issue. Ideally, these countries aim to supply an Islamic finance workforce that is equipped with the right set of competencies and skills.

Takaful is an important growing sector in the Islamic finance industry, with continuous positive growth momentum in key markets and estimations of continued double-digit growth globally. While the GCC and ASEAN are expected to continue to lead the global takaful markets with their substantial growth, emerging markets within Europe and Africa are also showing significant growth potential.