The 5 banks and 3 participating branches operating in Morocco recorded a negative net income of MAD377 million ($39.1 million) at the end of 2018. A year earlier, net loss was MAD175 million ($18.1 million).

According to the 2018 annual banking monitoring report published by the Central Bank of Morocco on 22 July 2019, the situation is due to “the burden of investments induced by the start of activities of these Islamic banks.”

For all these Moroccan Islamic banks, general operating expenses amounted to MAD445 million at the end of December 2018. Despite this situation, outstanding financing granted by all Islamic banks in Morocco stood at around MAD4.5 billion over the period, more than 90% of which was in the form of “Murabaha real estate” type financing and 8% as “Murabaha Automobile”.

Chamberline Moko