Sharia banking may be coming

Senegal is reviewing legislation that would allow lenders to set up Islamic units in a nation where 94 percent of people don’t have savings accounts, Birahim Seck, chief executive officer of SYM International Finance Corp. in Dakar, told Bloomberg in a Sept. 14 interview. Shariah banks boost financing to small- and medium-sized businesses, according to report.

Outstanding domestic bank lending accounted for 25 percent of Senegal's gross domestic product in 2008, according to data compiled by the World Bank. The rates compare with 224 percent in the U.S. and 115 percent in Malaysia, a global hub for finance that conforms with Shariah principles.

Senegal would lure funds from the Middle East with a system to facilitate Islamic financing, said Seck at SYM International. A lack of regulation and sufficient knowledge are hampering growth, said Seck, whose company helps bring investment from members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference into West Africa.