Ghana’s drive towards an alternative finance (Non-Interest Banking) ecosystem has been a long walk dating decades back. That thirst has been fed with individual and collective sacrifices by different interest groups over the years, even to the point of a clear policy position.

Yet, the clearest signs of a concrete takeoff for a Non-Interest Banking (NIB) ecosystem came on December 9, 2024, when the Bank of Ghana (BoG) released an exposure draft of its guidelines for the regulation and supervision of Non-Interest Banking for banks, specialized deposit-taking institutions and development finance institutions.

December 9, it must be stated was also a culmination of a dogged effort by the Islamic Finance Research Institute of Ghana (IFRIG) along with the support of public, private and international partners in driving home the NIB gospel.

IFRIG’s End-Of-Year Webinar on BoG guidelines

When IFRIG organized its final webinar for 2025, they brought on board Nigerian resource persons to discuss the BoG’s exposure draft document as the institute collected public memoranda which were submitted to the central bank ahead of a December 24 deadline.

Four Nigerian experts in NIB, were unanimous on their assessment of the guidelines, commending the central bank for dotting most i’s and crossing almost all the t’s in the base framework meant to be the foundation on which the industry is being built.

The four experts were: Ummahani Ahmad Amin (Managing Partner of the Metropolitan Law Firm), Prof Usman Muhammad Shu’aib (Director of the Islamic Banking and Finance, Bayero University, Kano), Ismaila M. Zakari and Ambassador Shuaibu Adamu Ahmed (Co-founders of Ahmed Zakari and Co.)

They highlighted three major pluses in the guidelines:

1. Comprehensiveness – The document touches on how to run NIB windows for existing banks and how new fully-fledged banks can also enter the market. Even the relationship between fintechs and NIB institutions.

2. Corporate Governance Depth – They pointed out how the NIB institutions are mandated to establish Non-Interest Banking Advisory Committees (NIBAC) as well as the BoG’s Non-Interest Finance Advisory Council (NIFAC), which bodies if well constituted will safeguard the fundamental principles of Non-Interest Banking.

3. Alignment with International Standards – The quartet also observed that in terms of accounting standards, the guideline gave room for IFSB and AAOIFI usage.

“What Ghana is doing is actually expanding the frontier of Islamic finance in the African sub-region. It is a welcoming development and I believe when we start operating we are going to have some room for adjustment here and there,” Prof Shu’aibu stated in his submission.

“I want to once again commend the Bank of Ghana for the excellent draft they have given us and then also for their commitment to seeing that Non-Interest Banking takes off,” Ambassador Shuaibu submitted.

"It is about turning a great draft into an exceptionally high quality regulatory framework," Ismaila Mohammed Zakari said after outlining three major areas the BoG must give further clarity on – i.e. capital requirement, fintech rules and human capacity development.

Ummahani, for her part referenced 3Cs the BoG must adopt going forward: “To strengthen the guidelines, the focus should be on clarity, certainty and, of course, capacity. Legal clarity is required in the type of contracts, especially around enforceability, default and dispute resolution.

"This gives both investors and customers that confidence that this is some sort of partnership between them," she stressed.

The four IFRIG members who contributed on the webinar included; Dr. Shuaibu Ali (Director General), Geoffrey Yussif (Director of Finance), Musah Ismaila (Director of Audit and Governance) and Sherif Shaban (Director of Training).

A busy 2025 for Non-Interest Banking and Finance (NIBF)

The issue of NIB has been topical this year given that it was contained in the government’s 2024 manifesto. Since coming into office, President John Mahama reassured that that promise was going to be vigorously pursued.

"We also promised to introduce Islamic banking instruments in Ghana and so we will begin the discussion with the Bank of Ghana on how we introduce Islamic banking instruments into our banking and financial system," President John Dramani Mahama stated on January 10, 2025 during the National Prayer and Thanksgiving event at the National Mosque.

Months later, the Johnson Pandit Asiama-led central bank named an advisor on NIB in the person of Prof John Gatsi.

The BoG leadership have since met with members of the Christian and Muslim clergy separately to solicit support for NIB. The governor’s advisor also met a joint meeting of the clergy.

The Bank also held a one-day capacity building workshop in early December for major stakeholders before the release of the guidelines.



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