Rabat – Islamic financing for housing in Morocco showed positive growth signs at the end of January 2022, settling at MAD 16.1 billion ($1.6 billion), a 39.6% increase from the MAD 11.6 billion ($1.1 billion) recorded in January 2021.
With this significant increase, Islamic financing for housing loans is the fastest growing banking service across the spectrum, according to data from Morocco’s Central Bank, Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM).
Despite being relatively young and underdeveloped, Islamic financing is on the rise in Morocco.
Debuting in late 2018, the sector now holds five Islamic banks including Bank Assafa, Umnia Bank, Al Akhdar Bank, Bank Al Yousr, and Bank al Tamweelwa Al Inma, and three Islamic funding structures — Dar Al Amane, Arreda, and Najma — dedicated to mobilizing resources for customers in compliance with Sharia law.
In addition to banks and financing windows, Morocco’s Islamic banking sector welcomes its first participative insurance institutions in recent months.
A subsidiary of the state-owned investment group Caisse de Depot et de Gestion (CDG) announced in February plans to launch a participative insurance company.
The news came a month after Morocco’s Holmarkom group announced launching the country’s first Takaful financing institution, Takafulia Assurance.
The sector grew exponentially between 2019 and 2020, with an impressive 75% growth rate, according to data from BAM.
The sector continued on a positive trajectory throughout 2021 resisting global trends, recording a 32% growth rate.
The global Islamic financing system was worth $2.2 trillion in 2021, with major players clustered primarily in the Middle East region.
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