Developing an Islamic capital market in Nigeria

Abstract

The Islamic banking and finance industry has been well-received in both the Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Reflecting the wide acceptance of the industry globally, many countries are developing the Islamic financial markets parallel to the existing conventional financial markets. In line with the global trend, there are also increasing demand for such financial market alternative in Nigeria. The Nigerian financial system is yet to have an operating Islamic bank left alone the Islamic capital market. For a vibrant Islamic financial system, both the Islamic banking and Islamic capital market are pertinent to create varieties of financial products as well as to ensure a well functioning and healthy growth of the Islamic banking and finance industry. Based on this concern, the objective of this study is to envisage developing an Islamic capital market in Nigeria and assessing the sustainability of the market in the country. The study focuses on the need to develop an alternative capital market with reference to Nigeria. The political, legal and societal constraints regarding the establishment of the Islamic capital market in a secular system will have some effects on the establishment and stability of the market especially to attract foreign Islamic funds. In achieving the objectives, the study uses both exploratory study and primary data by distributing questionnaires to five groups in Nigeria and analysing them using statistical package. In particular, the study intends to investigate three variables, namely awareness, acceptance and sustainability with respect to Islamic capital market in Nigeria. The study utilises descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and estimates the mean and standard deviation of the three variables in order to arrive at enriching discussion and conclusive evidence on this issue. The results of this study will shed some lights on the prospects and challenges in developing an Islamic capital market in Nigeria and contribute in terms of enriching the field of the Islamic capital markets studies. The study hopes to contribute in terms of coming up with policy recommendations that will be of interest to the policymakers to ensure healthy growth and sustain the development of the Islamic capital market in the country. Also, the study intends to contribute towards guiding and helping potential investors and industry players to become informed decision makers in the Islamic capital market.