Islamic finance segment hits $2.9 billion, says SEC

The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Lamido Yuguda, said the Islamic finance segment of the financial industry reached an estimated $2.9 billion as at the end of 2022 with outstanding Sukuk accounting for 57 per cent of the amount.

Islamic banks followed with 42 per cent while the remaining one per cent was split between Islamic funds and takaful.
Yuguda disclosed this yesterday in a welcome address at an ongoing forum on non-interest capital market holding in Abuja.

According to Yuguda, the development shows that the Nigerian market makes up just 0.9 per cent of the global non-interest market, indicating the dire need for more growth. He added that with the country boasting a large population and a significant proportion unbanked, the long-term potential for Islamic finance in Nigeria is immense.

“The non-interest (Islamic) capital market (NICM) in Nigeria has undergone a transformative growth, becoming an integral part of our financial framework, offering a distinctive platform for ethical and shari’ah-compliant investments.
“The NICM contributes to the diversity of our financial markets in line with our revised capital market Master plan of 2021 – 2025”, he said.

The SEC DG explained that since the debut of Sukuk in Nigeria in 2017, the Debt Management Office (DMO) has raised almost N1 trillion to finance over 5,000 kilometers of critical roads and bridges.

He assured that NICM has a huge role to play in the current economic programme being pursued by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, hence it needs to be embraced by all stakeholders.

Declaring the forum open, the Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, called on stakeholders to come up with practical solutions that would assist the government in financial sustainability to reposition the economy.