| [Guardian] Islamic finance is becoming one of the most rapidly growing segments of the global finance industry. There is growing interest from financial institutions in designing Islamic or "sharia-compliant" products and services to attract Muslim investors. Interestingly, although it has received much less attention, Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) and development practitioners are also beginning to explore the role that Islamic finance can play in supporting development. Specific attention has focused on promoting sharia-compliant microfinance for low-income populations. This is partly because of Islamic teachings that encourage economic self-sufficiency among the poor, particularly through microfinance, but also, no doubt, because of the desire of the IFIs to develop future customers. It will be interesting to see whether IFIs, development practitioners and governments can come together over the next few years to overcome the challenges (typically more time consuming, costly and complicated to manage) and ensure that Islamic microfinance becomes more widespread. |
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