GHANA: Seeking to
encourage Zakat payment among Muslims in Ghana and to promote financial
management within the principles of Islamic finance, the Greater Accra
Regional branch of Ghana Muslim Mission (GMM) has introduced a Zakat
Fund. This is a move welcome by the country’s Islamic finance industry as
it will serve to promote further the proposition of Shariah compliant
finance.
Nurudeen Quaye, GMM’s Imam for the Greater Accra region, shared that the
primary objective of the fund is to sensitize qualified Muslims in
fulfilling their Zakat obligation and subsequently assisting them to
fulfil their religious duty. The fund will act as a platform for the
collection, management and disbursement of funds to its beneficiaries and
manage payments to yield optimal returns according to the tenets of
Islam. The fund would also be used to execute developmental projects for
the Muslim community in Ghana, as announced by Dr Sheikh Amen Bonsu, the
national chairman of GMM.
With Muslims making up only 17.6% of Ghana’s population, the development
of the industry (which has in the main been in the area of Islamic
microfinance) in the sub-Saharan republic has been slow, but has
nonetheless seen positive development in recent years. The new Zakat Fund
expands the range of Zakat funds available in the country as it joins the
existing Zakat and Sadaqa Trust Fund launched by Ghana’s Muslim Staff
Association. Earlier in the year the central bank confirmed that it was
reviewing the nation’s Banking Act to incorporate the concept and
governance of Islamic banking and finance, paving way for the
establishment of Shariah compliant banking practices in the country. It
was also revealed that two Islamic banking license applications were
pending before the central bank. More recently, ISFIN, the international
network of Islamic finance lawyers, partnered with local firm Glory Law
Firm making the later its exclusive representative for Ghana.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.