Global Islamic finance assets is projected to grow by $3.69trillion in 2024, Ridwan Sanusi, a financial investment professional as well as a leading voice of Islamic finance in Nigeria, has said.
According to Sanusi, the global Islamic financial market, has witnessed a rapid growth over the last decade. “The global Islamic finance assets grew by 14% in 2019 and are expected to rise to $3.69trillion by 2024. Nigeria is not left out of the massive evolution of the global Islamic financial market.”
He added: “In the last decade, we have seen new players emerge in the Islamic financial service industry including commercial banking, insurance, asset management, investment-banking, etc. In addition to the products designed by their Islamic counterparts, conventional financial institutions like FBN quest, United Capital, ARM and others have designed halal funds that will cater to the investment needs of this hugely underserved market.”
Expatiating, the Muslim Finance Coach observed that in the even Nigeria has reaped bountifully from the benefits of Islamic finance.
Specifically, he recalled that in the past five years, the federal government has issued three separate Sukuk that were primarily channeled into capital projects. “In 2020, the NSE Lotus Index outperformed the All Share Index by more than 5%. These metrics are strong indications that the Islamic financial sector has huge potential that mustn’t be neglected. The sector can play a massive role in driving changes in key sectors of the economy through socially responsible financing and impact investing.”
An elated Sanusi who says he is happy helping clients to gain financial security, ditch their debts, earn extra income from halal investments, and increase their net worth in keeping up with their Islamic values, recalled that setting up Smart Halal investor club and then WeFundMatch has been quite inspiring for him.
“Although they seem to be operating within the same space, they serve two different purposes. Smart Halal Investor Club (SHIC) is an investment community where members have exclusive access to credible halal investments that have been verified to be Shariah Compliant and that give a high Return on Investment. Our focus at SHIC is to create a guilt-free way for our members to build generational wealth by providing them with a diversified portfolio of investments in various asset classes (e.g Real Estate, Fixed Income, Agriculture, Startup Investing, Stocks e.t.c.) and different regions.”
For Sanusi and his team, the key success factors have been the varied investment opportunities with high ROI, the level of investment due diligence and monitoring, as well as a tested and trusted platform to earn passive income without feeling guilty.”
Challenges, Sanusi stressed are normal events that all entrepreneurs encounter in their pursuit of impacting the lives of the people they serve. “I would say that the biggest challenge for me is getting credible halal investment opportunities for our members. Because of the limited number of halal investments and the dearth of Islamic finance education especially in this part of the world, we struggle with getting investments that the market has already structured for our members who want to invest in line with their faith and values.
The other main challenge is getting high yield investments.” Many of our members complained about the low returns on investments they were getting from other platforms or organisations. One of our biggest commitment to our members is a high return on investments. We look out for opportunities and negotiate deals in key sectors of the economy that will give our members a high return on investments. For instance, our members have enjoyed investments with 15% – 20% ROI per month, 35% ROI in 9 months, 30% ROI in 10 months, 20% ROI in 6 months, 15%-20% in 4 months.”