Islamic Finance in Ethiopia Current Status, Prospects and Challenges
Islamic Finance in Ethiopia Current Status, Prospects and Challenges
Islamic Finance in Ethiopia Current Status, Prospects and Challenges
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ABSTRACT
Ethiopia is a country found in the horn of Africa and notable in the Muslim world as the destination
of the two migration of the companions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Ethiopia has a Muslim
population expected to be around 50 million. Unfortunately, with this significant Muslim
population, it accommodates Islamic finance in its conventional financial system lately. This study
aims to investigate the current status, prospects, and challenges of Islamic finance in Ethiopia.
For these reasons, different secondary data were collected and analyzed. The result of the study
indicated that Islamic finance in Ethiopia is representing by three financial institutions such as
Islamic banks, Islamic Insurance and Islamic microfinance. Islamic banking is providing through
the Interest-free banking window and fully-fledged forms of interest-free banking. The interest-
free banking window system is adopted by conventional banks, whereas Full-fledged Islamic
Banks providing services using their own separate Sharia-compliant financial system. The result
also indicated that high public demand, adequate capital for the establishment, availability of
substantial customers, easy deposit mobilization and profitability are the foremost opportunities
for Islamic finance in Ethiopia. Whereas, negative perception about Islamic finance, legal
framework challenges such as restriction of investment and double taxation, and lack of skilled
human resources are the main potential hindrances for the sector.
INTRODUCTION
The creator (Allah) sent down books for his messengers that govern human beings. He sent down
Quran for his last messenger Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Every activates of a Muslim is
governed by an Islamic law called 'Shariah'. Ayub (2007) defined Sharia as “a code of law or
divine injunctions that regulate the conduct of human beings in their individual and collective
lives.” Therefore, Islamic Sharia is not restricted by ruling the commonly knows five pillars of
Islam such as Shahada (declaration faith), Salat (prayer), Zakat (almsgiving), Sawm (fasting) and
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Hajj (Pilgrimage); instead Islamic shariah encompasses the spiritual, social, economic and political
aspects of human life (Iqbal & Mirakhor, 2011).
Islamic Sharia has its own primary and secondary sources. The primary sources of Islamic
sharia are Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH); whereas the secondary sources
of Sharia are the consensus Muslim scholar (Ijmaa), analogy (Qiyas) and the intellectual effort of
scholars (Ijtihad) (Philips, 2006; Ayub, 2007). Muslim scholars like Imam Al-Ghazali, Al- Shatbi
and Tahir Ibne Ashoor explained the purpose of Islamic Shariah through detail studying of sharia
sources (Auda, 2008; Ayub, 2007). The objectives of Sharia are categorized into primary and
secondary objectives. The primary objectives of Islamic Sharia are s protection of religion, life,
progeny, intellect and wealth. The Secondary purpose of Sharia includes launch fairness and
equality; encouragement of mutual help, social security and solidarity; preserving peace and
safety; collaboration in encouraging goodness and prevention of evil actions; and promoting in
keeping global moral values (Nyazee, 2016; Ayub, 2007; Auda, 2008).
The position of Islamic economics and finance is explained by Muslim scholars and Islamic
institutions. Regarding the place of economics and finance in Islam, Iqbal and Mirakhor (2011)
explained that Islamic thought can be classified into three main sets such as faith (aqidah), law
(shariah), and moral and ethics (akhlaq). Faith (aqidah) explains the relationship among the creator
(Allah) human beings, meaning that regarding faithfulness and beliefs. On the other hand, morals
and ethics (akhlaq) govern the conduct, attitude, and morals of Muslims in society. The overall
daily practices and actions of a Muslim are explained by Islamic law (shariah). Shariah is also
categorized into two subsets of practices and actions such as Man-to God worship (Ibadat) and
Man-to-man activities (Muamalat). Muamalat describes the social, economic and political
conducts of a Muslim. Accordingly, the rulings regarding economics and financial activates are
among the significant sets of Muamalat.
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services and products are prohibited in Islam, however, Islam has different types of contracts
which can be applied in the finance practice without interest. Therefore, they said that it is possible
to establish Sharia-compliant financial institutions. Finally, the opinion of the third group gain
acceptance from Muslim scholars and the idea of establishing interest-free financial institutions
gained momentum as a theory in the 1940s. These were the turning points to the commencement
of modern Islamic finance.
The Commencements of Modern Islamic Finance
Following a long period of dominance by conventional finance throughout the world, the Sharia-
compliant Islamic finance system engaged in the finance industry as an alternative to those who
are not accessing conventional finance due to religious reasons (Tiby & Grais, 2015). According
to Alharabi (2015), the development of modern Islamic finance can be categorized into three
stages. The first stage covers from 1930-1963 and during this period the establishment of Sharia-
compliant financial institutions was under theoretical work by scholars. The second stage is known
as the introduction and establishment period of Sharia-compliant financial institutions. This stage
covers the period from 1963-1976. In this stage, the first attempts were made to established Sharia-
compliant banks in Pakistan and Egypt in 1950 and 1963 respectively. In this stage, several
conferences were carried out on Islamic finance in the middle east. The third stage of the
development of modern Islamic finance is called the spread of Islamic finance across the globe.
This stage covers the period from 1997 to the present. During this period several Islamic Finance
Institutions are established and continuing establishing around the world.
Currently, Islamic finance is expanding in all Muslim and non-Muslim countries as an
alternative to the conventional financial system. Nagaoka (2012) indicated that Islamic finance is
growing quickly after the year 2000 due to the commencement of new Islamic financial products
like “Sukuk, commodity Murabaha and Islamic derivative.” Islamic Shariah has several contracts
which are playing a significant role in developing Sharia-compliant financial products and
services.
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Conventional insurance products and services are prohibited in Islam because of they engaged in
activities against Shariah principles such as interest, gambling, risk probability and uncertainty
(Afzal-ur-Rahman,1974). As stated by Obaidullah (2005), Swartz and Coetzer (2010), Htay and
Zaharin (2012); and Pasha and Hussain (2013), takaful is providing through three main models.
These modes are summarized as follows.
Table 3. Models of Islamic Insurance
FI Models of Takaful Explanation
Tabarru Model Based on member’s donation (Tabarru) to the Takful fund
Mudaraba Model Members and workers go into in a Mudarabah agreement
Takaful
Microfinance institutions aimed to provide financial services for the poor and for those
who cannot access financial services from other financial institutions. As other conventional
financial institutions, traditional microfinance institutions are providing interest-based
products/services. Therefore, Sharia-compliant microfinance products and services are developed
to provide financial services/products to unbanked and poor societies (Dhaoui, 2015). Islamic
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Microfinance institutions are providing products and services through two models such as non-
profit models and profit-based models. Nonprofit models of Islamic microfinance engaged in
collecting and paying Zaka, receiving and managing awqaf (donation), and collection of Qard
Hasan (benevolent loan). On the other hand, Profit based Islamic microfinance institutions
providing interest-free products/ services like micro-Saving, micro-Credit and micro-equity
(Obaidullah, 2008).
Islamic Capital markets products are playing a significant role in the development of the
Islamic financial system. Alam, Gupta, and Shanmugam (2017) defined the Islamic capital market
as follows: “Islamic Capital Market (ICM) is an integral part of Islamic Financial System where
Syariah compliant financial assets are transacted. It plays a pivotal role in the growth of Islamic
Financial Institutions. It is a market where people, companies, and governments with surplus funds
transfer it to people, companies, or governments who have a shortage of funds. It acts as a financial
intermediary by channelling money from surplus to deficit unit.” (PP:397)
Alam, Gupta and Shanmugam (2017) classified Islamic capital market products into three
categories such as Islamic equity market and related products, Islamic fixed-income instruments
(Sukuk) and Islamic-structured products and derivatives.
Currently, Islamic finance is flourishing in all corners of the globe in Muslim and non-
Muslim countries as an alternative to the conventional financial system. According to the 2020
Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) Islamic Financial Services Industry Stability Report, the
global growth rate of Islamic finance was estimated at 11.4% and the total wealth of the global
Islamic finance industry was $2.44 trillion by the end of 2019. The 2020 Global Islamic Finance
Report (GIFR) also estimated the global wealth of the Islamic finance industry as about $2.73
trillion. From the total wealth of global Islamic finance; Islamic Banking, Sukuk, Islamic fund,
takaful and Islamic microfinance covers 74%,17%,4%,2% and 1% respectively (GIFR,2020).
Therefore, most of the global Islamic finance wealth is concentrated in the Islamic banking sector.
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Research Questions
This research is aiming to answer the following questions.
How is the current status of Islamic finance in Ethiopia?
What are the main prospects of Islamic finance in Ethiopia?
What are the main challenges of Islamic finance in Ethiopia?
LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter studies conducted to assess the prospects and challenges of Islamic finance are
summarized. In the first section, prospects and challenges of Islamic finance are illustrated in
general and in the second section studies related to prospects and challenges of Islamic finance in
Ethiopia are reviewed.
In the early development stage of Islamic finance; Iqbal, Aḥmad, and Khan (1998) assessed
the challenges facing the Islamic finance industry. They classified challenges into two
subcategories such as challenges related to institutional aspects and challenges related to
operational aspects. Challenges related to institutional aspects are lack of proper organized legal
framework, lack of suitable legal and accommodating policies, unavailability of accounting
standards, lack of equity institutions, and absence of a secondary market for Islamic finance
products. On the other hand, they stated that operational relation challenges are shortage of
financial engineering; issues on Sharia principles; lack of teaching, training, research and
development institutions; shortage of profit-sharing financial sources; insufficient deposit
mobilization; computation and globalization.
Despite the expansion and development of Islamic finance, challenges are facing the sector.
Malaysia International Islamic Finance Center –MIFC (2015) explained the driving forces for
growing Islamic finance even in Europe. The increase of trade and financial transaction between
OIC countries and the EU, the expansion of choosing ethical financial services and products, the
growth of the halal food sector, the need for liquid assets and the support from the government to
the Islamic finance sector are among the potential prospects for the growth of Islamic finance in
Europe. On the other hand, MIFC (2015) stated that standardization and harmonization (different
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interpretations for Islamic financial laws), human capital issues (shortage of Islamic finance
professionals), Sharai requirement and existing legal frameworks (challenges to harmonize the
Sharia and existing laws), and public awareness (lack of public awareness about Islamic finance
products and services) are among the potential challenges facing Islamic Finance Industry.
Karimi (2007) also identified the legal framework problems facing Islamic banking such
as an absence of Islamic finance court to solve disputes regarding Islamic finance, the need for
amendment for existing commercial law of countries to accommodate Islamic finance in the
system, the need for a new form of financial statements, lack of effective prudential Islamic finance
regulation and lack of a standard for products and services.
The challenges facing the Islamic finance industry is different from country to country due
to their previously applied business and commerce law. According to Karbhari, Naser, and Shahin
(2004), the challenges facing Islamic finance in the west in which predominantly applied
conventional financial system are lack of standardization, shortage of appropriate regulation and
legislation, inability to fulfil the western capital and liquidity requirements criteria, discrimination
by tax, unavailability of adequate financial instruments, the need for a separate accounting
sundered, lack of liquid financial instruments, lack of qualified human resource, insufficient
marketing and computation form conventional counterparts.
Further, Mohd Zamil (2014) investigated the problems and challenges facing the Islamic
finance industry in Malaysia using semi-structured interviews for selected respondents such as
Sharia committee, Shariah officer and Chief Executive Officers. The finding of his study indicated
that “dual-banking environment, lack of support from the regulatory framework related to products
and services, Shariah non-compliance, operation and management, lack of expertise in human
capital, lack of accountability, and lack of influence of accounting practices and auditing” are
identified as the main problems and challenges facing Islamic finance in Malaysia.
To sum up, the above-mentioned studies indicated that lack of standardization, lack of
appropriate legal framework, shortage of experts and scholars in Islamic finance, unavailability of
adequate financial instruments, the need for a separate accounting sundered, lack of liquid financial
instruments, computation form conventional counterparts and lack of public awareness about
Islamic finance products and services are the main challenges facing Islamic finance in general.
When we come to assess the prospects and challenges of Islamic finance in Ethiopia, there
are not enough studies conducted due to the sector is permitted in Ethiopia lately. However, even
within the short time, some researchers conducted to show the prospects and challenges of Islamic
finance in Ethiopia.
Hailu, Kapusuzoglu, and Ceylan (2019) assessed the role of Islamic financial products in
the reduction of financial exclusion in Ethiopia. Their finding indicated that most of the Muslim
communities’ reasons for not accessing conventional finance were religious reasons – meaning
that the absence of Shariah-compliant financial institutions. Furthermore, their finding also shows
there was high interest and potential to establish and access Sharia-compliant financial services in
Ethiopia. To examine the role of
Islamic finance to promote small and medium enterprises in Ethiopia, Ali, Bushera, and
Yesuf (2020) conducted a study and they stated that to maximize the role of Islamic finance to
promote Small and medium enterprises, suitable regulatory framework, organize financial
infrastructure, developing public awareness and producing skilled human resource should get
appropriate attention from all stakeholders.
Belayneh (2020) was surveyed to examine the opportunities and chillness of Islamic
finance in Ethiopia. High public demand and attracting new investors are among the main
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potentials of Islamic finance in Ethiopia. On the other hand, lack of skilled manpower,
unavailability of the capital market, lack of public awareness and negative perception abut Islamic
finance are among the main challenges facing the development of Islamic Finance in Ethiopia. Ali
(2020) also investigated the challenges facing Islamic microfinance institutions in Ethiopia. He
points out that the challenges facing Islamic microfinance in Ethiopia are “unavailability of clear
and detailed legislation from the regulator National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), shortage of trained
and knowledgeable workforce related to interest-free microfinance services, immense and arduous
administrative cost of the system and clients’ nonconformity with some Sharia principles like
failure to deliver the item to the institution after they acquired it from the market on behalf the
microfinance institutions.”
Islamic banking is providing products and services for customers through three
establishment ways such as full-fledged Islamic banking, Islamic window and Islamic subsidiaries
banks (Sole, 2007 and Abedifar, Ebrahim, Molyneux, & Tarazi,2015). Considering this,
Abdulhade (2020) studied the opportunities and challenges facing Interest-free window Banking
in Ethiopia. The result of the study indicated that high demand for products and services and the
capability of collecting more deposits through Islamic banking products and services are among
the opportunities for Interest-free window banking in Ethiopia. On the contrary, computation with
other banks providing Islamic banking services through window system, lack of knowledge about
Islamic banking products and lack of skilled human resources are identified as the main challenges
facing interest-free window practice in Ethiopia.
Concerning the newly permitted full-fledged Islamic banking in Ethiopia, Aman, Ali, and
Yesuf (2021) assessed the basic failure or success factors for full-fledged Islamic banking in
Ethiopia. Their finding shows that legal, monitoring and institutional background; skilled human
resources; reputation and public image; qualities and quantities of providing services and products,
standardize Shariah ruling; central Sharia compliance supervisory institution; and computation are
among the main factors which may decide the fate of full-fledged Islamic banking in Ethiopia.
Hailu and Bushera (2020) also assessed the opportunities and challenges of Islamic
banking in Ethiopia through detailed qualitative analysis. They stated that the availability of
unbanked vast customers, high demand and the capability of mobilizing adequate capital and
deposit are among the main prospects. While misconception about Islamic finance, legal and
regulatory framework challenges, limitation of banks investment participation, double taxation,
unavailability of the central supervisory body and lack of skilled human resource are the main
challenges facing the newly permitted fulfilled Islamic Banking in Ethiopia.
In general, the reviewed literature shows that the newly permitted full-fledged Islamic
banking in Ethiopia is facing the same challenges which are facing the global Islamic finance
industry. Legal and regulatory problems, unavailability of contorting mechanisms and lack of
skilled human resources are the main challenges facing Islamic finance in Ethiopia.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Islamic financial system is accommodated in the Ethiopian financial system lately. Initially,
offering Islamic banking products and services by conventional banking through a separate
window is permitted and finally, establishing full-fledged Islamic finance institutions are permitted
in late 2020. Hence, this study aims to assess the current status, prospects and challenges of Islamic
finance in Ethiopia.
To assess the current status, prospects and challenges of Islamic finance in Ethiopia; a
qualitative research method is applied. There are different types of data collection methods in
qualitative research method such as observation, analysis of secondary data and interview
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(Gill,2008). Therefore, to achieve the objective of this study different types of secondary data
sources such as previous studies, reports, news, magazines from different sources are collected.
The available information from the website of the National Bank of Ethiopia and other commercial
banks are also collected and analyzed.
ANALYSIS
This study is trying to archive three basic research objectives such as presenting the current status
of Islamic finance in Ethiopia, assessing the main opportunities for the expansion of Islamic
Finance in Ethiopia and assessing the main challenges for the expansion of Islamic Finance in
Ethiopia. Using the collected secondary data, the three research questions are answered and
explained in the following sections.
Current Status of Islamic Finance in Ethiopia
Ethiopia has a special place in Islam as it accepts Muslim migrants from Mecca two times and It
also among the countries Islam reached early, next to Mecca. Currently, the population of Ethiopia
is expected to be around 110 million and half of it is expected to follow Islam. When we come to
accessing financial services in Ethiopia, in 2017 only 38% yang population have a bank account.
This indicated that about 62% young population do not accuse the basic bank account (Demirgüç-
Kunt, Leora, Dorothe, Saniya, & Jake, 2018). According to the study conducted by Hailu,
Kapusuzoglu and Ceylan (2019) religious reason was among the main factors that affect access to
conventional financial services.
As Ethiopia has a substantial Muslim population and high demand for Sharia-compliant
financial products and services, Ethiopian Muslims was asking permission from Islamic finance
in Ethiopia for a long period. After a long period of informal requests for the Ethiopian
government, in 2007, a group of Muslims representing the Ethiopian Muslim Diaspora present
several questions for the late Prime Minister of Ethiopia. One of the basic questions asked by
Diaspora representatives was the permission of Islamic banking in Ethiopia (Feyissa, 2012). Then,
in 2008, a group of Muslims who has an imitation to establish Islamic banking in Ethiopia called
“Zam-zam bank” presented the importance of establishing Islamic banking in Ethiopia for late
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
After discussion, the Prime Minister informed the governor of the National bank of
Ethiopia (NBE) to prepare a directive that permits the formation of Islamic Banking in Ethiopia
(Al-Hashimi, 2012). Following the high demand for Islamic financial products and services, in
2008, NBE revise the “Licensing and Supervision of Banking Business” proclamation and issued
a new proclamation that creates room for establishing Islamic financial institutions. The new
proclamation is called Proclamation is called “Proclamation No. 592/2008” and in this
proclamation Article 22, Sub-article 2 states “The National Bank may issue a directive to regulate
banking businesses related to non-interest-bearing deposit mobilization and fund utilization.” This
is the turning point for Islamic finance history in Ethiopia.
Following the release of proclamation No. 592/2008: Article 22, Sub-article 2, all
conventional commercial banks in Ethiopia started providing interest-free current account deposit
services. On the other hand, the organizers of Zam Zam bank was started selling the share to
establish full-fledged Islamic banking and they could 137 million Birr within four months. In that
time the minimum paid-up capital to establish a bank in Ethiopia was 75 million Birr (Zam-zam
Bank, 2012). This outstanding performance indicated that the high demand for Islamic finance in
Ethiopia.
After a long effort to establish the first Interest-free banking in Ethiopia, unfortunately, the
National Bank of Ethiopia issued a new direction that blocks the ways of establishing full-fledged
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Islamic finance in Ethiopia. The new directive is known as “Directives to Authorize the Business
of Interest-Free Banking No. SBB/51/2011.” In this Directive article 2(2) define interest-free
banking business as “a banking business in which mobilizing or advancing funds is undertaken in
a manner consistent with Islamic finance principles and mode of operation that avoids receiving
or paying interest” and article 2(3) states “interest-free banking window refers to a unit within a
conventional bank exclusively offering interest-free banking services.” Article 2(3) indicated that
only conventional banks can offer interest-free banking services through a separate window.
Because of Directive No. SBB/51/2011, the ways of establishing full-fledged Islamic
banking in Ethiopia is closed and finally, on January 11, 2012, the National Bank of Ethiopia
informed the organizers of Zam Zam bank either to establish a conventional bank that can offer
interest-free through window system or terminate the establishment process. The main objective
of Zam zam bank organizers is to provide alternative Sharia-compliant financial services for those
who are not accessing conventional financial serviced due to religious reasons. Therefore, they
were not accepting the offer from NBE to establish a conventional bank and in May 2012 the
establishment process of Zam zam bank was terminated by refunding the money to shareholders
(Zam-zam Bank, 2012).
After the issuance of Directive No. SBB/51/2011, conventional banks started providing
interest-free banking services through a separate window. This system is called the Interest Free
Banking window (IFB window). Conventional Banks started providing IFB window and the year
of started providing IFB window services are summarized in the following table.
Table 4. History of IFB window in Ethiopia
No. Name of Conventional Banks Year of IFB Window
Establishment Starting year
1 Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) 1963 2013
2 Oromia International Bank (OIB) 2008 2013
3 United Bank (UB) 1998 2014
4 Wegagen Bank (WB) 1997 2015
5 Nib Bank (NB) 1999 2015
6 Cooperative Bank of Oromia (CBO) 2004 2015
7 Abay Bank (AbB) 2010 2016
8 Awash Bank (AwB) 1995 2016
8 Wegagen Bank (WB) 1997 2016
9 Abyssinia Bank (AB) 1996 2017
10 Dashen Bank (DB) 1995 2018
11 Buna International Bank (BIB) 2009 2019
12 Debub Global Bank (DGB) 2012 2021
Source: Collected from Each Bank’s website
Even though conventional banks started providing interest-free banking services through
window system Muslims are not satisfied due to the services is providing by the capital and
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infrastructure of the conventional bank. According to the study conducted by Hailu, Kapusuzoglu
and Ceylan (2019) Muslims are not satisfied with the interest-free window practice because the
service is providing by interest-based conventional banks. Therefore, Muslims are continually
asking the government to permit the establishment of full-fledged Islamic finance institutions.
Finally, after seven years of exclusive IFB window practice in Ethiopia, the current prime minister
of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed vowed to permit the establishment of full-fledged interest-free financial
intuitions on May 22, 2019 (Getachew & Kedir, 2019).
Following the promise made by Dr. Abiy Ahmed, the National Bank of Ethiopia issued a
new proclamation known as “Proclamation No: 1159/2019”. The new proclamation permits the
establishment of full-fledged Islamic banking in Ethiopia. Article 59(1) of this proclamation states
“Without prejudice to the requirements of specified under the provisions of the proclamation, the
National Bank may issue a Directive to prescribe additional conditions of licensing, supervision
and requirements to establish Interest-Free Bank. For this sub-article, Interest-Free Bank means a
company licensed by National Bank to undertake only interest-free banking business.”
After the release of Proclamation No. 1159/2019, the initiation to establish several full-
fledged Islamic banks, Islamic Insurances and Islamic microfinance institutions started. Zam Zam,
Hijira, Nejashi, kush and Huda are among the banks start selling the share to the public to establish
full-flagged Islamic Banking. Currently, as of July 2021, Zam Zam and Hijira banks are received
an operational license from the National Bank of Ethiopia and Zam Zam Bank officials started
providing services.
The establishment initiation of Islamic financial institutions in Ethiopia is not only in the
banking sector. However, interest-free microfinance institutions are operating in Ethiopia without
adequate legal firework. According to Ali (2020), The following microfinance institutions are
providing sharia-compliant microfinance services in the Muslim dominated areas of Ethiopia.
Table 5. Interest free Microfinance Institutions in Ethiopia
No. Name Islamic MFI Establishment Year
1 Harar Microfinance Institution (HMFI) 2014
2 Dire Micro Finance Institution (DMI) 2013
3 Somali Microfinance Institution (SMFI) 2012
4 Rays Microfinance Institution (RMFI) 2014
Source: Ali (2020)
After the 2019 proclamation that permits the establishment of full-fledged Islamic financial
institutions, there are some imitations to establish Islamic microfinance institutions in all corners
of Ethiopia. Regarding Islamic Insurance in Ethiopia, Global Insurance Company the first
company in providing Islamic insurance services in Ethiopia. According to Capital Newspaper,
two new companies are asking for licenses to provide Islamic Insurance services. To summarize,
the current status of Islamic finance in Ethiopia is composed of IFB window, fulfilled Islamic
banking, Islamic Insurance and Islamic microfinance institutions.
Prospects of Islamic Finance in Ethiopia
Taking into account the availability of risk in any investment, Islamic finance in Ethiopia have a
good opportunity and potential. After reviewing different data, the main opportunities of Islamic
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finance in Ethiopia are high public demand, adequate capital for the establishment, availability of
substantial customers, and easy deposit mobilization and profitability.
The first potential opportunity for the Islamic finance industry is the availability of huge
possible customers for Islamic finance products and services. As stated previously, half of the
Ethiopian population are expected to practice Islam. This means about 50 million Muslims are
available in Ethiopia. This number of the Muslim population is more than most of the Muslim
countries that applied Islamic finance. However, it is also expected non-Muslim communities who
are interested in ethical finance may also access Islamic finance products and services.
The second potential prospect for Islamic finance in Ethiopia is a strong demand for Islamic
finance products and services. The effort of Ethiopia Muslims asking the government since 2007,
the establishment process of Zam Zam Bank from 2008-2011 and other serves indicted that there
is a high demand for Islamic finance in Ethiopia. According to the survey conducted by Hailu,
Kapusuzoglu and Ceylan (2019) in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, from the total
respondents, about 97% stated that if full-fledged Islamic finance in Ethiopia is permitted, the will
be either a customer or a shareholder in the fulfilled Islamic finance institution. Aman (2019) also
stated that an increase of IFB window in Ethiopia indicated that there is a need for products and
services.
The availability of abundant capital to establish full-fledged Islamic Financial Institutions
is one of the prospects for Islamic finance in Ethiopia. As stated early, the ability to collect 137
million Birr within four months by Zam Zam bank in 2011, when the minimum paid-up capital to
establish a bank in Ethiopia was 75 million Birr indicated that there is adequate capital for this
sector.
Profitability and easily deposit mobilization also among the potential prospects of Islamic
finance in Ethiopia. According to the Data collected from the National Bank of Ethiopia, as of
September 30,202, the total deposit collected by all conventional IFB windows was about 66.5
Billion Birr. This indicated that full-fledged Islamic banks can mobilize deposits easily. Hailu and
Bushera (2020) stated that the growth of IFB Window deposit mobilization from 2018 to 2019
Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), Cooperative Bank of Oromia (CBO) and Oromia
International Bank (OIB) was 78.57%,125.23% and 38% respectively. The growth of profit from
2018 to 2019 for the Cooperative Bank of Oromia (CBO) was 281%. Therefore, this highest rate
of growth in deposit mobilization and profit indicates a good prospect for full-fledged interest-free
Banking in Ethiopia.
Challenges of Islamic Finance in Ethiopia
Even though there are promising opportunities for Islamic finance in Ethiopia, they are also
potential challenges facing the Islamic finance industry. After reviewing available sources of data,
the main challenges facing Islamic finance in Ethiopia are negative perception about Islamic
finance from non-Muslim communities, legal framework challenges and lack of skilled human
resources.
The global propaganda on Islam also affected the expansion of Islamic finance. In Ethiopia,
some non-Muslim scholars are not supporting Islamic finance. They tried to explain the negative
perception like if Muslims are open their bank, other religious followers may ask to establish their
bank and It may result in the division of financial system. To assess the perception toward Islamic
finance, Hailu and Bushera (2020) analyzed the comments on the news about the permission of
full-fledged Islamic banking in Ethiopia. The result indicated that there was a substantial reflection
of negative perception about Islamic finance.
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The main and significant challenges of Islamic finance is coming from the commercial
code of Ethiopia-legal framework challenges. The commercial code of Ethiopia is an interest-
based commercial code and when an interest-free financial system is permitted the is a need for
amendment for some proclamations. For instance, in the banking business proclamation Directive
No. SBB/60/2015 article 4 (4) states “A bank may hold up to 10% equity shares in a single non-
banking business other than insurance business” and article 4 (6) also stated that “A bank’s
aggregate equity investment in all non-bank business, including insurance companies, shall not
exceed 10% of its net worth”. Therefore, if this directive applies to Islamic banking, they cannot
don any Mudaraba and Musharekah businesses. Considering this point, Sefiani (2014) indicated
that “these articles create a conflict for issuing Musharaka or a Mudaraba partnership agreement
in which a bank could own up to 100% of a business/transaction at the time of the signing of the
contract”. Murabahah (Cost-Plus-Profit Sale) is one of the primary products providing by Islamic
Banks. According to this transaction, a customer requests a specified product and then the bank by
and own that product. Finally, the bank sells the product to its customer accord.
CONCLUSION
The main of this study is to assess the current status of Islamic finance in Ethiopia and to identify
the prospects and challenges of Islamic finance in Ethiopia. Considering the current status of
Islamic finance in Ethiopia, there are three types of Islamic financial institutions in Ethiopia such
as Islamic banking, Islamic insurance and Islamic Microfinance Institutions. From 2011 – 2019
Islamic banking products and services were provided by the IFB window system. There are 12
conventional commercial banks in Ethiopia offering Islamic banking products through the IFB
window system. In late 2019, establishing full-fledged Islamic banking in Ethiopia was permitted
and more than 5 new Islamic banks started selling shares to the public. Among the formation
Islamic banks, Zam Zam and Hjira banks are received an operational license from the National
Bank of Ethiopia and Zam Zam Bank is started providing services in Addis Ababa and opening
branches in all directions of the country is continued.
In the same way of any type of business, there are opportunities and challenges for Islamic
finance in Ethiopia. The potential opportunities of Islamic finance in Ethiopia are high public
demand, adequate capital for the establishment, availability of substantial customers, and easy
deposit mobilization and profitability. While, the potential challenges are negative perceptions
about Islamic finance from non-Muslim communities, legal framework challenges and lack of
skilled human resources.
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