Economy
Islamic Finance Vital to Nation’s Economic Growth—Report
By Dipo Olowookere
A report jointly released by Thomson Reuters and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) has stressed the role Islamic finance plays in the sustaining the growth of economy of a country.
Thomson Reuters is the world’s leading provider of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, while ICD is the private sector development arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).
The key findings of the fifth edition of the Islamic Finance Development Report and Indicator (IFDI) were released at the World Islamic Banking conference (WIBC) 2017 held in Bahrain.
The report studied key trends across five indicators used to measure the development of the $2.2 trillion Islamic finance industry which are: Quantitative Development, Knowledge, Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility and Awareness. It also compiled extensive statistics on the industry from 131 countries and highlighted the best-performing countries within each key area of performance.
The IFDI global average value, which acts as a barometer of the overall industry’s development, recovered to 9.9 in 2017 from 8.8 in 2016. This reflected improved performances in each of the five indicators. Malaysia, Bahrain and the UAE lead the IFDI country rankings for the fifth consecutive year, while the GCC remains the leading regional hub for the industry.
Countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Europe, East and West Africa saw notable improvements in their IFDI values, demonstrating the continued growth of Islamic finance in non-core markets.
The report also highlights how Islamic finance can help countries adapt to difficult economic conditions.
Nadim Najjar, Managing Director of Thomson Reuters in the Middle East and North Africa, said: “We have seen that the Islamic finance industry can serve as a strategic tool for policymakers for sustainable growth in order to cope with the aftermath of the economic slowdown that impacted markets such as the Middle East.
“Some markets had noteworthy improvements in their IFDI values when they have improved or introduced Islamic finance to fit their economic needs and attract investments like Morocco, Tunisia and Iraq.”
Khaled Al Aboodi, CEO of ICD, said: “Incorporating Islamic finance in different strategies can be seen in the many steps taken by governments across different IFDI indicators. This was noticed when some authorities intervened in Islamic social funds management, raised literacy in the industry among potential market players through formal education systems, organized roadshows targeting potential market players, or built a roadmap to plot development of the overall industry.”
Islamic finance sector recovers strength and assets continue to grow
Quantitative Development, which measures the performance of Islamic financial institutions and capital markets, advanced the most of the five indicators as a partial recovery in oil prices helped Islamic financial institutions and mutual funds regain strength.
Sukuk grew least of the Islamic finance sectors as some large sovereign issuers resorted to conventional bonds to ease the issuance process and lower costs.
Yet even here, sukuk showed signs of promise as new players came to market and Saudi Arabia emerged as a new sovereign sukuk giant.
There was also an increase in consolidation within the industry. Mergers were agreed between Islamic financial institutions in the GCC, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia that are likely to strengthen their competitive edge.
The reversion to strength after last year’s oil price-led downturn saw total Islamic finance industry assets rise 7 percent to $2.2 trillion in 2016 and it is expected that assets will continue to rise, to $3.8 trillion by 2022.
Governments looking to improve Islamic finance education and literacy
The Knowledge indicator, which encompasses education and research, also edged higher in the latest report.
There were 677 Islamic finance education providers in 2016, of which 191 provided a total of 322 Islamic finance degrees. Governments in Bahrain, Malaysia and Indonesia made particular efforts to push Islamic finance education and literacy.
Governments improving regulatory regimes to encourage industry
As governments sought to push Islamic finance to help revive economies hit by the fall in oil prices, Governance gained the most of the five indicators. Each of its Regulation, Shariah Governance and Corporate Governance sub-indicators showed improvement.
The number of Shariah scholars increased, and several countries began to push for external Shariah scholars and centralized Shariah boards. There were 44 countries in 2016 with specific Islamic finance regulations. Many of these pushed for takaful regulations or tax concessions for sukuk.
Corporate social responsibility another strong gainer, though disclosure still too low
The indicator for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was another strong gainer, with improvements in both performance and disclosure by Islamic financial institutions.
The total CSR funds disbursed by different Islamic financial intuitions increased 18 percent over the year, to $683 million.
The number of institutions reporting CSR activities also increased, but the global average for reporting disclosure remains low. Despite this, there are developments that will contribute to a stronger CSR in the future including interventions in managing zakat, waqf and charity by the governments of the UAE, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Conferences and seminars exploring mutual values of Islamic and ethical finance
As governments turned their attention towards Islamic social financing, a growing number of conferences and seminars explored the common ground between Islamic and ethical finance, particularly in Europe. This helped the Awareness indicator to edge higher, despite a slowdown in growth of news articles on the industry.
Other popular themes of conferences and seminars included socially responsible investing, sukuk, and microfinance. The rise in number of Islamic microfinance events was particularly noticeable in Africa.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited kicked off the week on a positive note after it closed higher by 0.58 per cent on Monday amid sustained buying pressure.
The stock market was bullish as a result of bargain-hunting activities across the key sectors of the bourse, with the energy index growing by 1.49 per cent.
Further, the insurance space expanded by 0.88 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.86 per cent, the industrial goods sector gained 0.81 per cent, the commodity segment soared by 0.79 per cent, and the consumer goods landscape advanced by 0.57 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 946.61 points to 163,244.69 points from 162,298.08 points and the market capitalisation surged by N745 billion to N104.521 trillion from N103.776 trillion.
The market breadth index of Customs Street was positive yesterday with 49 price gainers and 20 price losers, representing a strong investor sentiment.
The quintet of eTranzact, UPDC, McNichols, Red Star Express and RT Briscoe led the gainers’ chart during the session after chalking up 10.00 per cent each to sell for N16.50, N5.50, N6.05, N11.55, and N3.96, respectively.
However, Champion Breweries topped the losers’ table after it shed 8.51 per cent to quote at N15.05, Eunisell shrank by 8.01 per cent to N156.20, Ikeja Hotel crumbled by 8.00 per cent to N36.80, Guinea Insurance depreciated by 7.30 per cent to N1.27, and Omatek moderated by 3.13 per cent to N1.24.
The activity chart had Sovereign Trust Insurance on top after a turnover of 307.5 million shares valued at N1.0 billion, Fidelity Bank followed with 158.4 million equities sold for N3.1 billion, Linkage Assurance traded 118.7 million stocks worth N213.9 million, Mutual Benefits exchanged 31.5 million shares for N130.4 million, and Lasaco Assurance transacted 31.0 million stocks valued at N79.6 million.
At the close of trades, a total of 1.2 billion equities worth N19.2 billion exchanged hands in 59,359 deals versus the 624.1 million equities valued at N18.5 billion traded in 43,816 deals last Friday, showing a spike in the trading volume, value and number of deals by 92.28 per cent, 3.78 per cent, and 35.47 per cent apiece.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices rose on Monday amid worries that Iran’s exports could decline as the sanctioned member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cracked down on anti-government demonstrations.
Brent futures increased by 53 cents or 0.8 per cent to $63.87 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures expanded by 38 cents or 0.6 per cent to $59.50 per barrel.
Iran said it was communicating with the US government as President Donald Trump weighed responses to a deadly crackdown on nationwide protests, among the stiffest challenges to clerical rule since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
On Sunday, the US president said officials may meet Iranian officials. He also threatened possible military action over lethal violence against protesters.
Iran has the world’s fourth-largest proven oil reserves, with around 9 per cent of the global total, coming only behind Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Canada. It also has the second-largest proven natural gas reserves, with 17 per cent of the global share, and is the third-largest crude producer and fourth-largest exporter within OPEC.
In recent months, Iran has produced record levels of oil, even in the face of US sanctions on its energy exports and the bombings conducted by Israel on its capital.
Despite the ongoing sanctions, Iran has gradually built up its output once again, from around 2.9 million barrels per day in 2019 to between 3.2 and 4 million barrels per day in 2024, depending on estimates.
Capping gains were expectations that supplies could rise from Venezuela, another sanctioned member of OPEC as it is expected to resume oil exports soon following the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro.
President Trump said last week the government in the South American country was set to hand over as much as 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the US.
Reuters reported that oil companies have been racing to find tankers and prepare operations to ship the crude safely.
Investors are also watching the risk of disruptions in supply in two other OPEC allies – Russia and Azerbaijan – as Ukraine’s attacks have targeted Russian energy facilities while the country faces prospects of tougher US sanctions. In Azerbaijan oil exports dropped to 23.1 million tonnes in 2025 from 24.4 million tonnes in 2024.
Market players are also looking at developments with US interest rates and the Federal Reserve after the Trump administration opened a criminal investigation into the head of the US central bank, Mr Jerome Powell.
The Federal Reserve chair called the move a “pretext” to influence interest rates, a point that the US president has always hammered upon.
Lower interest rates could boost economic growth and oil demand by reducing borrowing costs, but could hinder the central bank’s efforts to control inflation.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The N21.5 billion rights issue of Eterna Plc has commenced, with shareholders encouraged to participate in the exercise through the NGX Invest platform.
The rights issue began today, Monday, January 12, 2026, and is expected to close on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, a notice signed by the company secretary, Mr David Edet, disclosed.
Proceeds from the exercise will be deployed to support several strategic initiatives, including the expansion of Eterna’s retail network, upgrading of its lubricant blending plant, enhancement of LPG retail assets, acquisition of commercial delivery assets, expansion of aviation fuelling operations, and investments in ESG-related projects aligned with the company’s sustainability objectives.
Business Post reports that a total of 978,108,485 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each are available for grabs at the price of N22.00 each.
The stocks are being offered to existing shareholders on the basis of three new ordinary shares for every four ordinary shares held as of November 27, 2025.
Apart from buying equities of the rights issue via the NGX Invest platform, shareholders can also purchase by completing the paper participation form.
However, completed participation forms, together with payment or evidence of payment for the full amount payable, must be submitted no later than Wednesday, February 18, 2026, to any of the issuing houses or receiving agents listed in the rights circular.
The rights issue provides existing shareholders with the opportunity to increase their equity holdings in the organisation, thereby reinforcing their participation in and support for Eterna’s long-term growth strategy.
The firm disclosed in the disclosure filed to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited that the rights issue received the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
It advised shareholders “to contact their stockbrokers and/or financial advisors for further information regarding the offer.”
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