Morocco will start awarding Islamic banking licences from 2016, the governor of the Moroccan Central Bank, Abdellatif Jouahri (photo), announced on 12 November.

"We will start awarding licences to Islamic banks from next year", he declared during a conference on Islamic finance which took place in Kuwait, indicating that the future Islamic banks will have to provide the authorities with reports on their activities periodically.

Mr. Jouahri explained that Morocco wants the Halal banking offers to fully take care of the concerns of the customers concerning the authenticity of the Islamic approach, while limiting their complexity. In this regard, the authorities have already set up a Charia Board of experts (oulémas) whose mission will be to give their advice on the conformity of the Islamic financial products offered by the Halal financial establishments. Each Islamic bank active in the country will however have to set up its own Charia committee.  

According to a recent survey by Reuters Agency, the Islamic Research and Training Institute which is part of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the consulting firm Zawya, 98% of Moroccans have shown an interest for Islamic banking products.        

According to the Moroccan press, approximately ten Charia compatible banks from Asia, and more precisely the Middle East, have applied for approval from the Moroccan Central Bank since the adoption by the country of a law on Islamic banks.