Report: Mohammed A. Abu
The Special Advisor to the Governor of Bank of Ghana on Non-Interest Banking and finance Prof John Gartchie Gatsi,has disclosed that SEC and NIC have gone very far regarding sukuk and Takaful Guidelines expected to be out, between March-April, 2026.
Prof Gasti therefore advised potential local and foreign parties interested in rendering services relating to sukuk (non-interest bond) and Takaful (non-interest insurance) to rather consider engaging directly the Securities Exchange Commission(SEC) and the National Insurance Commission(NIC) and not the Bank of Ghana.
The two institutions, he said, have the regulatory oversight responsibility over sukuk (Non-Interest Bonds) and Takaful (Non-Interest Insurance) respectively and not the Bank of Ghana (BOG).
Those interested in sukuk under writing he said, should therefore consider contacting directly SEC as Sukuk is a Capital Market product.
Prof Gasti was speaking during an exclusive, with your favourite, Eco-Enviro News Africa, in Accra, Monday.
BOG in charge of regulating and supervising the operations of non-interest banking institutions had earlier this year issued its Guidelines for the Regulation and Supervision of Non-Interest Banking, 2025.
BOG, Prof Gasti said, from the word go, had ensured effective coordination among the relevant state institutional stakeholders and had thus, carried along, the two institutions. Capacity building for the said institutional stakeholders, he said, is on-going and also entails visits to Malaysia, Nigeria among others, in order to draw useful lessons.
In December last year during a NIBF training workshop,Dr.Johnson Pandit Asiama the BOG’s Governor in a speech read on his behalf by Mr. Ismail Adam,Director,Banking Supervision Department,observed that, there is the need to attract both local and Ghanaian expertise resident outside Ghana as well as foreign expertise in the core principles, product structuring, and risk management.
“Understanding and experience in products/contracts such as Mudarabah (profit-sharing), Musharakah (joint venture), Ijara (leasing), and Murabaha (cost-plus sale) is critical for us as a regulator. Conventional financial institutions are encouraged to scale up their training needs to be able to operate.
What Constitutes a Non-Interest Finance Industry
The non-Interest finance Industry( Islamic finance industry)entails, banking, fakaful (Insurance),microfinance, market with particular reference to sukuk, Fund Management, Equity and Venture Capital,Ijara(Lease),Real Estate finance,crowdfunding,Halal industry,etc.
Also included are the social financing tools namely,waqf(endowments),Zakat(compulsory Tax for the poor) and Sadaqa(Charitable donations).These are all sub-sets of the non-interest economy system.
Non-interest microfinance(Islamic microfinance) has been time tested and proven worldwide to be an effective tool for meeting the financing needs of the real economy sector and with particular reference to the unbanked and underbanked majority.
Waqf(Islamic endowments),Zakat(compulsory tax for the poor) and Sadaqa(charitable donations) on their part,is also being explored for the role they could play in meeting SMEs financing needs.
Indeed non-interest banking and finance has the potential to play a crucial role in addressing both public and public sector funding gaps and stimulation of economic growth at both macro and micro economy levels.
Non-Interest Economy System Philosophy
The economic philosophy underpinning the non-Interest Finance industry is that man to man trade, commercial and all other forms of economic activity should be ethically driven, for the mutual benefit of all parties, ensuring fairness and equity without exploitation of man by man avoided.
Every human generation is expected to act as Trustees of the resources granted to them by their Grand Creator, found in the marine, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems on planet earth. And this goes with upmost responsibility on their part.
Sustainability consciousness driven prudent natural resources governance and management should therefore be a collective and shared responsibility of every generation and a legacy worth to be bequeathed to the next generation after them. This resonates with the United Nations Development Goals(UN SDGS)
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has since considered it prudent partnering the Jeddah, Saudi Arabia based Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to organize courses in Islamic Finance and the UN Sustainable Development Goals(UN SDGS) while, the World Bank Group and the World Economic Forum have since endorsed it’s development friendliness for emerging markets in particular.