Banking: Nigeria's only Islamic Bank goes off-line
Jaiz International, Nigeria's only Islamic bank, has gone offline after its internet domain expired yesterday.
The bank, set up in 2003 and starting operations in 2008, has struggled to make inroads into Nigeria's banking sector despite the large Muslim population.
The plans were grand: to serve Nigeria's Muslim population and to spread across Africa delivering banking on shariah principles.
In 2007 it announced investments from the UK's IDB, from Dantata and Dangote and appointed advisers to raise additional capital under the government's FDI schemes.
Jaiz brought in outside help to train its staff but its business has been slow for the simple reason that Islamic banking is such a new concept in Nigeria.
The bank said that its IPO was oversubscribed "by 120%" and that would be followed by a private placement and a public offer which would bring the bank's capital up to USD189.2 million.
Jaiz recently hit the international news when an article in The Wall Street Journal wrote that its chairman, Umaru Abdul Mutallab, until recently also chairman of First National Bank Nigeria (formerly Standard Bank) is the father of Farouk Umar Abdul-Mutallab, the man accused of trying to bring down an American airliner on Christmas Day 2009 by setting fire to his underpants. Mutallab had previously reported to the authorities his concerns over his son's increasing radicalisation - a course of action which has led to an invitation from US Senator John Kerry to address the Senate and explain what he thinks went wrong. Dozens of other media outlets then reported the connection.
A request for additional information regarding the bank is pending with CBN.
Download PDF version of this page