Gulf African Bank (GAB), Islamic bank operating in Kenya, and the leading local telecoms operator Safaricom, will launch by March 2018, M-sharia, a platform that will offer sharia-compliant services via mobile.

According to Abdullahi Adan, director of banking services at GAB, M-sharia lies on sharia rules and targets both Muslims and non-Muslims, who are financially excluded because of the law on interest rates capping and ethical principles.

The Islamic mobile platform allows individuals to borrow between Sh100 and Sh200,000 and sellers between Sh50,000 and Sh500,000 (Sh1,000 = $9.6).

Chamberline Moko