What is it about?
The perception of Islamic finance by its various stakeholders is not always reconcilable, and some perceptions and misconceptions may slow down its progress. We study how bank employees in Cameroon perceive Islamic finance, finding new insights and some novel perceptions (of the target, the Shariah compliance, opportunity, etc. of Islamic finance). For example, Islamic finance is perceived as both inclusive and exclusive, and not only inclusive nor only exclusive as the dichotomy in previous literature suggests. This study is a pioneering effort to understand the perception of Islamic finance in non-Islamic and developing countries where Islamic finance is underdeveloped, like Cameroon.
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Why is it important?
This study mobilises a qualitative approach, provides new insights into the research on the perception of Islamic finance and reaches a consensus on the perception of certain aspects and attributes of Islamic finance, namely, for the perception of the target and the Shariah compliance of Islamic finance. Furthermore, this study is a pioneering effort to understand bank employees’ perception of Islamic finance in non-Islamic and developing countries where Islamic finance is underdeveloped.
Perspectives
Conducting this research was a memorable experience, from working with my co-author to interacting with bank branch managers, some of whom, despite their passion for Islamic finance, had the presence of mind to recognise its limitations and challenges in the context of this research (Cameroon). It was also an opportunity to further advance research on Islamic finance in our context, following our initial work in this direction on the "Déterminants de la réticence au marché de la finance islamique au Cameroun" (Ngaha, R. & Binam, F., 2019, Revue Congolaise de Gestion, vol. 28, no. 2, 2019, pp. 41-85. https://doi.org/10.3917/rcg.028.0041). Moreover, during the interviews with participants, we identified new questions not yet addressed in the literature and which will be the subject of future research.
Roméo Parfait Ngaha
Universite de Yaounde II
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Bank employees’ perception of Islamic finance in a non-Islamic developing country: the case of Cameroon, Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, May 2023, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/jiabr-06-2022-0142.
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