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Former Stanbic Bank chief makes strong case for Islamic banking
Renowned economist and banker, Alhaji Alhassan Andani has reiterated the importance of Muslims practicalising their faith in all aspects of their lives.
The one-time CEO of Stanbic Bank Ghana stressed that an important part of manifesting the Islamic faith is with respect to how the Muslim runs their financial affairs.
The retired banker, who is currently known as Naa Alhassan Andani, Chief of Pishigu in the Northern Region has thus tasked the Muslim Ummah (community) to undertake an introspection into its readiness for Islamic Banking and Finance, IBF.
Naa Andani was speaking in his capacity as chairman of an IBF forum that took place in April at the conference hall of the Cantonments Police Mosque.
Themed, “Awakening Emaan (Faith) Through Islamic Finance,” the event under the auspices of the Islamic Finance Research Institute Ghana, IFRIG, drew participants from a cross section of the Ghanaian Muslim community.
Chief Andani in his opening remarks, noted that the issue of Islamic Banking and Finance couldn’t have come up at any better time other than now.
Quizzing, “are we aligned in our minds?”, Chief Andani reminded participants about the moral and ethical value standards expected of them by Islam at all times and the consequences of compromising them as stated in the Holy Qur’an.
He cautioned further, that those to be put in charge of Islamic banking and financial institutions, shouldn’t only maintain physical but spiritual discipline as well as strive to honour their management duties and responsibilities so as to keep high standards in the industry.
He therefore reiterated the need for Muslims to examine each other as an Ummah stressing that trust was needed as a basic commodity between Muslims for the industry to be built and consolidated.
The ex-banker explained that the basic difference between conventional banking and its Islamic counterpart, is ethics / sharia compliance.
He recounted that it was the pursuit of non-banking practices, major of which was the distribution of money people didn’t own, that led to the unpopular global banking crisis which otherwise was described by some as the “Global Economic Meltdown”
Guest of Honor and Plenary Session
In delivering an address at the event, Brother Fawzi Amadu, a leading light in IBF advocacy in Ghana and Guest of Honour for the event, underscored the need for full commitment on the part of IBF promoters towards the adoption of Islamic banking and finance in Ghana.
He implored Muslims to show full commitment towards the cause of Islamic banking.
Aside the Chairman and Special Guest of Honour, IFRIG Director Dr. Shaibu Ali, also gave an account of the effort that his outfit continued to undertake in advocating and expanding the frontiers of the IBF gospel.
A plenary session of four panelists also responded to specific questions around the IBF ecosystem. The panelists included Hajia Dr. Amina Sammo – a financial literacy expert and IBF advocate, and Hajia Azara Abukari-Haroun, CEO of the Zakat and Sadaqa Trust Fund.
The others were Mr. Yusif Geoffrey and Mr. Musah Ismaila, both research fellows of IFRIG.
