KENYA LAUNCH KEY COMMITTEES AND ISLAMIC FINANCE PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE.

Kenya through the technical and financial assistance of Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSDA), under the mandate delegated to it by Kenya’s financial sector regulators, the Financial Sector Regulators Forum (FSRF) under the patronage and support of the National Treasury has made significant steps in an effort to develop a framework for Islamic Finance, aimed at positioning Kenya as the new Islamic Finance hub for the region.

The foregoing effort has seen the appointment of Islamic Finance Advisory and ASSURANCE Services (IFAAS), an international consultancy firm specialized in Islamic finance, in collaboration with Simmons & Simmons, an international law firm to lead the Kenya Islamic Finance Project Management Office domiciled at Capital Markets Authority offices. The PMO which started its work since Jan 2016 achieved several milestones on fact finding mission, documentary reviews and analysis, capacity building and promoting awareness.

Besides, there are two additional committees formed i.e. Islamic Finance Consultative Committee (IFCC)-an advisory committee and Islamic Finance Steering Committee (IFSC) –the top policy making committee, that are envisioned in the Islamic Finance implementation programme as being key to facilitating the successful establishment of a vibrant Islamic Finance market in Kenya. The PMO and the said two committees bring together participants from government, financial market regulators and stakeholders.

Speaking during the launch of PMO and Islamic Finance Committee on 14th October 2016 at Villa Rosa Kempinski, Chief Executive Officer of Capital Market Authority (CMA) said “PMO has made significant progress. With what they have done and going to do in few months, it is clear that Kenya is in the right hands and right track towards becoming the Islamic Finance hub for the region.”
The launch event was well represented drawing participants from government, financial market regulators and stakeholders.

The PMO has up to end of March 2017 to cover its scope of work which includes;

1.Development of a regulatory framework
o Helping financial sector regulators issue guidelines to market players and proposing amendments to legislation
o Drafting internal guidelines for financial sector regulator staff on how to manage Islamic finance
o Capital markets-specific frameworks, e.g. to support sukuk issuance.


2. Design and delivery of capacity building programmes for:
(i) financial sector regulators and (ii) market players

3. Establishing a Shari’ah governance framework for Islamic finance in Kenya
o Designing and setting up an NSSB (and SSBs within financial institutions)
o Ensuring skills of Islamic scholars are appropriate and up to date so that they can play an effective governance role in SSBs
o Establishing productive links with international Islamic finance professional bodies.

4.Support on communications and market awareness raising activities – domestic and international.

It is clear despite of challenges in the way, Kenya is committed towards providing necessary environment to build a dual financial system where Islamic finance can operate in fair and level playing field with their conventional counterpart for the benefit of the country and the region.