– Prof Gatsi
The Dean of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) Business School, Prof. John Gatsi, has urged the country to join the Islamic Development Bank to attract direct investment from Islamic financial institutions through trade finance and technical cooperation.
He said by joining the Islamic Development Bank, Ghana will gain options for raising funds to develop its economy without the burden of interest payments.
“We need Islamic Banking to support the conventional banking system we have in the country. It will have an added opportunity to deepen financial inclusion and infrastructure finance for both government and private sector,” he said.
Prof. Gatsi also noted that Islamic banking and finance should not be viewed merely as a tool for promoting religion, instead, Ghanaians should consider Islamic banking and finance based on its ethical investment principles, practical benefits and financial inclusivity.
Furthermore, he said even though section 18(r) of Act 930; Banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions, Act 2016 talks about the permissibility of banks to engage in non-interest banking services, there are no legislations on the licensing processes of non-interest banks or the governance structure of such banks.
The Dean of the University of Cape Coast Business School, who was speaking at the 24th Islamic Finance International Conference, in Accra, emphasized that while current banking regulations permit Islamic banking, there are no specific governance structures in place for it. This absence of governance structures makes it challenging for investors to apply for Islamic banking licenses.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr Mustapha Hamid, called on advocates of Islamic Banking and Finance to endeavour to intensify engagement with non-muslim religious groupings in the country to educate, foster understanding and garner support among stakeholders.
“We have a huge section of our population that is nervous about anything called Islam. We will be deceiving ourselves if we think that is not the case. Therefore, our advocacy shouldn’t target only government and politicians,” he said.
Contrary to conventional banks, Islamic banking also known as Abrahamic finance or non-interest banking and finance is a system that operates on principles of risk-sharing and the prohibition of interest or usury which is Islamically considered exploitative, unjust and unethical.
