Islamic finance boom calls for increase in human capital

25/12/2016 05:45 AST

In the fast-growing industry of Islamic finance, the lack of specialized, trained human capital in the field continued to be a challenge, said Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) Gov. Ahmed Al-Kholifey.

The industry is booming in member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and internationally, in Muslim and non-Muslim countries alike.

This growth suggested that Shariah-compliant banking had more to offer than simply being a way to serve the needs of the 1.5 billion Muslims around the globe, according to Al-Kholifey. This situates education and training in Islamic finance among the top priorities to keep up with developments in the industry and guarantee steady growth.

“The fast-growing Islamic banking industry requires qualified and well-trained people in many disciplines and at various levels,” said Al-Kholifey at the World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) in Bahrain earlier this month.

“We urgently need to focus on that. More efforts need to be coordinated among regulators and banks in order to specify the areas where there is scarcity of human capital.”

Being home to the largest Islamic banking market in terms of assets, representing 34 percent, Saudi Arabia can further strengthen its position when it comes to offering specialized training in Islamic finance.

Al-Kholifey added that SAMA ensured an operating environment that supports Shariah-compliant products.

“We have ensured the availability of specialized training of bank staff as well as our own staff in Islamic banking,” he said. The expected growth in the Islamic finance customer base will reach 250 million in 2020. This necessitates bridging the gap between what the industry demands and human capital by providing proper education and training.

“Saudi Arabia can enhance and deepen its position in the Islamic finance world and become a global center of excellence,” John Sfakianakis, director of economic research in Islamic finance at the Riyadh-based Gulf Research Center, told Arab News. “Deepening training and human capital is essential toward that goal.”

Talat Hafiz, secretary-general of Saudi banks’ Media and Banking Awareness Committee, told Arab News that among the factors behind the lack of specialized education in Islamic finance is that it requires in-depth knowledge of both conventional banking and jurisprudence of transactions.

“Finding professionals who can combine knowledge and understanding of both banking and jurisprudence of transactions is very difficult,” he said.

The Bahraini experience

Bringing conventional banking and Islamic finance training together has already shown improvement, according to some institutes that offer training and education to those interested in Islamic finance.

The interest is not limited to those who come from a Muslim background. It includes those from countries that have included Islamic finance and banking in their economic development plans.

Bahrain is one of the main hubs in the region when it comes to Islamic finance education and training. The Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF) is one of the not-for-profit organizations that offer training in Islamic finance in Manama. The education is customized according to the needs of employees.

“Islamic banks hire people from conventional banks. They may be very capable in doing tasks they used to do in a conventional bank, but they lack the knowledge in Islamic banking,” said Ahmed A. Hameed Al-Shaikh, deputy director of the BIBF. “So there is no synergy between him and the team in the Islamic bank.”

The assessment center at the institute conducts training-needs analysis to evaluate the knowledge level of clients, assess the outcome they are expecting and accordingly come up with a teaching proposal. This depends on the prior background of the applicants. The institute receives students interested in the fiel

Arab News