Kenya is well positioned to become the hub for Islamic Finance in East and Central Africa, London-headquartered global law firm Hogan Lovells has said.
This comes in the wake of government’s pledge to develop a Shariah-compliant fund structuring and banking framework in as part of strategies to grow foreign direct investments.
The focus on Islamic finance is also aimed at bridging funding gaps in the country’s infrastructure projects.
“We welcome the government’s plans to renew its focus on Islamic banking which we view as having several benefits for Kenya’s economic growth,” Hogan Lovells partner Imran Mufti said. The Treasury plans to roll out guidelines on Sukuk bonds and Takaful retirement benefits schemes to allow for the introduction and development of Sharia compliant products. Islamic Finance Project Management Office, established in December 2015 and led by financial services regulators,
submitted policy proposals to the Treasury early this year. The guidelines will enable sector the financial sector regulators to incorporate Islamic finance regulatory frameworks.
“In 2017, we intend to have regulations for the supervision for ... the entire Islamic financial services sector in the country,” Insurance Regulatory Authority head of composite insurers supervision Mary Nkiomu said on March 27.
