Islamic banking booming in Ethiopia

[Hakan]

Islamic banking booming in Ethiopia
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The newly-introduced Islamic banking is booming in Christian-majority Ethiopia, the head of a private bank said.

"The Oromia International Bank managed to mobilize 300 million Birr within two months since it introduced the new banking service last December," Nuri Hussein, the acting director of the bank's interest-free banking department, told Anadolu Agency.

"Currently, the Islamic banking service is being offered at 46 branches of the bank," he said, going on to say that the number of branches offering the service will increase to 73 by July.

Islamic banking was introduced in Ethiopia in 2013 in an effort to meet the demand of Muslim clients for usury-free banking services.

Muslims are forbidden by their religion from usury, receiving or paying interest on loans.

"The service is generally targeting the Missing Middle, which refers to the financing gap in capital in emerging markets that lies above micro-finance and below traditional institutional financing," Hussein said.

According to the bank executive, some foreign investors and embassies are asking for information about Islamic banking.

"We have more than 4,000 customers, who have deposited in the Islamic banking program," he said. "Customers are now depositing on average 2 - 2.5 million Birr on daily basis."

Established in 2008, the Oromia International Bank is the first private bank to implement interest-free banking in the Horn of Africa country.

Islamic banking booming in Ethiopia | Economy | Worldbulletin News

 

[EyanKhan]

Anyone know any advantages of Islamic Banking?

 

[Hakan]

Anyone know any advantages of Islamic Banking?

you dont create artificial economic bubbles and people dont drown in debt and still have to pay interest.

But watch this and you will understand.

 

[Multani]

I kind of knew beforehand that the Islamic Bank would be called Oromo

Anyone know any advantages of Islamic Banking?

Since there is no evil of interest, business is pure, and fair to all strata of society.

Islamic Banking is more involved, such that the investor deals in partnerships, giving him direct control over his investments.

Business is more tangible.

Strictly speaking, today's Islamic Banking is not complete. Issues such as paper money, cheques, electronic accounts need to be researched properly among Islamic scholars. Only if incompetent mullas would not have hijacked the laws, Pakistan has enough intelligent and competent people to raise these issues rather than backfire on Islamic laws as being backward/medieval/barbaric etc or whatever.