Global Islamic finance represents $1.9 trillion in assets, mostly in predominantly Muslim countries in Africa and Asia, where large numbers of people still live on less than $1.25 per day.
That makes financial institutions rooted in Islamic principles an under-tapped resource for the $3 to $5 trillion per year needed to achieve “shared prosperity” and the U.N.’s 2030 global goals, according to the World Bank and Islamic Development Bank Group.
Their new report also serves as a terrific primer on the topic.
The principles of Islamic finance require “the just, fair, and equitable distribution of income and wealth,” primarily through asset-based financing of tangible assets and communal risk sharing (see, “What Can Islamic Finance Teach Impact Investors?”).
