Al Baraka bank to launch an Islamic finance venture partnering with BMCE

Al Baraka, a Bahraini bank group formed in 2002 in Manama will launch an Islamic Finance venture in Morocco expanding its operations in Africa, according to the bank’s chief executive, Reuters reports today.  

Morocco is finally being introduced to Islamic banking after the central bank in January «approved five applications» and «allowed three others to sell Islamic financial products», the same source indicates.

«We feel that since the country is not overbanked, there is room for more players to come in and play a positive role in supporting the growth targets of the Moroccan economy», Adnan Ahmed Yousif, Chief Executive of Al Baraka banking group.

Al Baraka is to partner with BMCE bank, giving birth to an Islamic bank named BTI. «The regulatory climate is definitely conductive…further reforms are being considered and this is crucial», continues Yousif.

For the record, through a couple of joint-ventures, Umnia, Al Yousr and Assafaa banks were created as an expansion plan initiated by Moroccan classical banks namely, CIH, BCP and Attijariwafabank respectively.