Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), is seeking to expand its operations in East African region following the approval by the Central Bank of Kenya last month.
The lender announced yesterday that it intends to use the Kenyan subsidiary, operating as DIB Bank Kenya, as a launching pad to other EAC countries in an effort to tap into the existing opportunities within the region.
The move is expected to shake up the Sharia’h complaint banking sector presently dominated by First Community Bank (FCB) and Gulf African Bank (GAB), who are the only licensed Sharia’h complaint banks in Kenya, conventional banks also operating Sharia’h compliant services, otherwise called windows. Sharia’h compliant law forbids riba or interest.
“We are focusing on Indonesia and Kenya to pursue a similar agenda supporting the bank’s overall objective to mirror Far East and Asia, to Middle East and the East African region,” said Dr. Adnan Chilwan, the bank’s Group chief executive.