Islamic Finance and Economics

OIC Targets Central Asia for Sharia Finance

June 17, 2019

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is taking measures to grow sharia financing as the bedrock of private sector expansion in the crucial geopolitical region of Central Asia.
Indonesian Government Pushes Digitization of Mosque Donations

May 29, 2019

The President of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, announced the government’s new strategy to digitize funding to the country’s mosques as a means of ramping up sharia-finance infrastructure development and growing the national market share of sharia-compatible banks.
OIC Brings Sharia Finance to Southeastern Europe

May 29, 2019

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is bringing Islamic finance to Southeastern Europe via Bosnia-Herzegovina with the signing of a memorandum of understanding in Saudi Arabia between the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector and Sarajevo-based Bosna Bank International.
Islamic Development Bank Expands OIC Influence

April 25, 2019

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) furthers its promotion of sharia law through its primary financing institution, the Islamic Development Bank and the associated International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, which recently announced the completion of $1.1 billion in trade, finance, and development deals across Eurasia, Africa, and South America.
Malaysia Is Growing International Hub for Islamic Finance

April 25, 2019

Thomson Reuter's newly released 2018 Islamic Financial Development Report cites Malaysia as a fast-growing international hub for sharia-compliant/compatible financial services.
Islamic Development Bank, UNICEF Partner on Philanthropy Fund

April 23, 2019

The Islamic Development Bank, a multilateral development institution funded by the 57 member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), has announced it will partner with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to develop a Global Muslim Philanthropy Fund addressing the needs of children in OIC member states.
Islamic Banks Attract Unbanked with Lottery-Linked Payments

April 22, 2019

The latest trend in Islamic banking is the use of lottery-linked savings accounts to attract the large unbanked sectors of the Muslim populations in the Middle East and Asia.
London Mosque Invites Cryptocurrency Donations

March 14, 2019

A London mosque has announced that it will begin accepting cryptocurrency donations to support mosque renovations and programs for the poor, opening the door for UK mosques to develop a sharia-compliant blockchain economy.
Qatar Hosts Islamic Finance Conference on Digital Tech

March 14, 2019

The Islamic monarchy of Qatar is hosting the 5th annual Doha Islamic Finance Conference, with more than 1200 representatives from 22 countries gathering to discuss how Islamic banks can grow their global customer base by adopting financial technology applications, including by expanding sharia-compliant blockchain technologies.
Chinese Initiative Bolsters Sharia Finance in Eurasia

March 13, 2019

The impact of sharia-compliant finance across Eurasia continues to grow through funding of an increasing number of infrastructure and development projects under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, in which almost half of the participant countries are Muslim-majority and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation member states.