1. Introduction

Until recently, African Muslims and non-Muslims alike have had limited access to Islamic banking and finance services. With the exception of Sudan and some limited and modest experiences in a number of other countries, the overall Sharī’ah-compliant financial system in Africa is a recent phenomenon. While some Islamic financial institutions, such as the Dallah Albaraka Group or Dar Al-Mal Al-Islami, have been operating in some African countries for a number of years, the vast majority of Islamic finance presence in the continent is recent. What is interesting is that the first Islamic bank, the first Islamic insurance or Takāful company, and the first Sharī’ah-compliant exchange traded fund (ETF) are all of African origin.