The Alternative Bank Collaborates For Pan-African Expansion

The Alternative Bank (TAB) has taken steps to extend its reach beyond the shores of Nigeria with its hosting of an executive delegation from Banque Sahelo-Saharienne pour L’Investissement et le Commerce (BSIC group), a Gambian bank on a two-week study of Islamic Banking.

The two-week exchange program is to promote collaboration between the non-interest banking sectors of Nigeria and that of The Gambia.

TAB’s Managing Director, Hassan Yusuf, announced that the four-member delegation from BSIC is embarking on a study tour of TAB’s operational and business processes as part of the prerequisites of capacity development for issuance of an Islamic Banking Window Licence by The Central Bank of The Gambia.

Yusuf explained that the visit will help nurture stronger relationships between The Alternative Bank and BSIC. According to him, “the exchange program has the potential for significant impact on Gambia’s financial landscape specifically, on  the broader scope of the continent’s non-interest banking market.”

Speaking on the visit, the Team Lead for BSIC and Director of the Islamic Banking Window, Mr. Malick Joof said, “This visit provides us an opportunity to learn first-hand from the largest ethical banking organisation in one of the most technologically advanced financial services markets on the continent.”

Joof continued by adding, “with this visit, we can take forward learnings that will further improve our operations in Gambia, and hopefully begin to lay the foundations for collaborations with the potential to expand ethical banking across the continent.”

BSIC was established by the CEN-SAD community in April 1999 with a mission to serve as the financial vehicle for the economic integration of the CEN-SAD nations and to facilitate the regional integration of the African continent.