The domestic financial sector has been fairly dynamic recently, with a number of mergers and new players arriving on the scene. However, approximately 70% of the population remains unbanked, and increasing access to financing is a government priority, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. Given the large informal market, the size of the unbanked population and the challenge of...
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The Republic of Ghana has experienced two peaceful handovers of power in the two decades since it has returned to civilian, multiparty democracy and has gained a deserved reputation as a bastion of stability. However, in recent years, it has been the country’s economic performance in the headlines.
Interviews & Viewpoints | OBG talks to Mohammad S Al Omar, CEO, Kuwait Finance House from The Report: Kuwait 2013
How are smaller investment firms and financial services companies dealing with current difficulties, particularly with regard to liquidity?
Articles & Analysis | Ready for change: New laws and market activity are set to revitalise the sector from The Report: Kuwait 2013
The insurance industry has grown substantially over the past decade. The expansion of Kuwait’s insurance industry over the course of the 12 years leading up to 2011 – the most recent year for which data was available at time of publication – reflects the country’s overall economic performance during the same period and, indeed, global macroeconomic...
Articles & Analysis | Principled assets: A regional centre for the sharia-compliant financial industry from The Report: Kuwait 2013
Over the past decade Kuwait has seen the emergence of one of the largest and most diverse Islamic financial services (IFS) industries in the world. According to Kuwait Finance House (KFH), as of September 2012, the country was home to $70.4bn in Islamic finance assets, some 5-6% of global sharia-compliant assets. Numerous Islamic financial...
Articles & Analysis | Bricks and mortar: Property remains a popular investment class among local players from The Report: Kuwait 2013
The development of Islamic financial services (IFS) in Kuwait over the past decade and a half corresponds to the rise and fall of real estate throughout the GCC over the same period. From the early 2000s until the international financial downturn in 2007-08, local sharia-compliant banks and companies invested heavily in the regional real estate...