Mohamed Al-Beltagy — Chairperson of the Egyptian Islamic Finance Association for Islamic Finance — said that the volume of Islamic banking in Egypt recorded about EGP 459bn by the end of September 2022 — an increase of EGP 52bn and a growth rate of 12.8% over September 2021.
Islamic banking accounts for about 5% of total banking in the Egyptian market.
Al-Beltagy added in a report issued by the association that Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt came in first place in Egypt’s Islamic banking market with a turnover of EGP 141.7bn, accounting for about 30.9% of the total volume of banking.
He pointed out that Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank – Egypt came in second place with a turnover of EGP 104.8bn and a share of 22.9%. Meanwhile, Banque Misr’s Islamic branches came in third place with a turnover of EGP 95.4bn and a share of 20.8%. Finally, Al-Baraka Bank – Egypt came in fourth with a turnover of EGP 84.9bn and a share of 18.5%.
The Egyptian banking market has 14 banks that have a license from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to offer Islamic banking products. They include fully Islamic banks — such as Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt, Al-Baraka Bank Egypt, and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank – Egypt — in addition to 11 banks that have Islamic branches in addition to the traditional branches.
Al-Beltagy added that the volume of deposits that comply with Islamic law in banks amounted to about EGP 364.2bn by the end of September 2022 — an increase of EGP 29bn and a growth rate of 8.7% — pointing out that these deposits are equivalent to about 6.1% of the total volume of deposits in the Egyptian banking sector.
Furthermore, he said that the number of Islamic branches affiliated to banks reached 253, which is equivalent to 5.5% of the total number of branches in the Egyptian banking sector, pointing out that these branches provide services to more than 3.2 million customers.
He continued that the volume of financing compatible with Islamic law recorded about EGP 360.5bn at the end of September 2022 — an increase of EGP 47.4bn with a growth rate of 15.1% — pointing out that this type of financing acquired about 5% of the total volume of financing in the Egyptian banking sector.
Al-Beltagy added that the Egyptian market is witnessing the development of many Islamic banking products that meet the needs of customers, which are more than 60 banking products and services, stressing that the market is still in need of developing and innovating more Sharia-compliant products, whether for individuals or companies and the small and medium enterprises sector.
Finally, he said that the Corporate Sukuk Law and its executive regulations were issued at the end of 2018. Six sukuk were issued until the end of September 2022 at a value of EGP 11.3bn and three new sukuk issuances are currently being considered, adding that it is expected that the Egyptian market will witness the issuance of the first state-owned sukuk offering before the end of this year.