- From Corporate Banking to Islamic Banking Head
You transitioned from a successful career in corporate banking at NMB Bank and Bank M to leading the Islamic Banking division at KCB Bank Tanzania. What prompted this shift? How did your corporate banking experience prepare you for the unique challenges of Islamic banking?
The shift to Islamic Banking was a combination of two factors. First was to align my work with my principles as a Muslim. Secondly, Islamic Finance can contribute to greater financial inclusion in Tanzania, unlocking opportunities for a large percentage of the population (approx. 34% to 37%) who have historically shied away from conventional banking products due to their faith, while simultaneously being accessible to all non-Muslims who may be attracted to the in-built ethical practices of Islamic Finance.
At the core of Islamic Banking, as the second word “Banking” suggests, the fundamentals of finance and banking remain largely unchanged except where shariah-compliant practices need to be considered. My Corporate Banking career instilled the necessary business acumen and technical skills required to navigate the unique challenges of the industry, particularly in finding creative ways to deliver solutions to customers given my exposure to many different transactions across multiple industries leading up to my appointment as the Head of Islamic Banking at KCB Bank Tanzania.
However, since Islamic Banking covers all segments i.e. Consumer, SME, Corporate, Institutional, and Government customers, I have had to stretch my understanding of banking since taking on the role which has been a rewarding experience so far.
- Building Islamic Banking in Tanzania
Tanzania is a diverse market with both Muslim and non-Muslim populations. As Head of Islamic Banking at KCB, what has been your strategy for growing the Islamic banking portfolio? How do you attract both Muslim and non-Muslim customers to Islamic products?
Initially, I leveraged my skills in Corporate Banking to build a strong base of corporate customers, both Muslim and non-Muslim, to grow the balance sheet while introducing a unique investment vehicle by way of the Sukuk (Islamic Bond) to widen our deposit base. Our first Publicly Listed Sukuk was launched in 2022 and was the 1st of its kind in Tanzania and East Africa, which managed to achieve an investor subscription rate of 110% raising TZS 11 billion (USD 4.1 million). This served to showcase our team’s ability at KCB to innovate new products in the market, increasing the Islamic Banking brand’s visibility (KCB Sahl Banking), and attracting a wider customer base in consumer and SME segments. Since then, we have launched a second Publicly Listed Sukuk in 2026 which achieved greater subscription rate of 302% raising TZS 30.24 billion (USD 11.3 million), showcasing investor appetite and uptake for shariah-compliant, financially inclusive investment products.
Between Dec 2021 and June 2026, this top-down approach helped us grow the Islamic Banking Assets to TZS 135 billion (USD 50 million) – increase of 155%, Deposits to TZS 206 billion (USD 77 million) – increase of 227% and generating a Net Profit of TZS 13 billion (USD 4.85 million) – increase of 75%.
Whether customers identify as Muslims or non-Muslims, our financial solutions need to deliver value. We focus on building strong partnerships with our customers based on mutual understanding of our needs. The use of our Islamic Banking products becomes the inevitable outcome to reach their goals. However, for Muslim customers, being able to meet their business demands while delivering on the promise of shariah-compliance creates a deeper connection as we serve beyond their business needs by appealing to our shared values.
- Corporate Banking vs. Islamic Banking
You’ve worked extensively in corporate banking and now lead Islamic banking. What are the most significant differences between structuring a corporate financing deal in a conventional bank versus an Islamic bank? What challenges arise when corporate clients request Shariah-compliant financing?
As alluded to earlier, the fundamentals of finance and banking remain largely unchanged when dealing with a corporate customer under Islamic Banking as far as credit risk analysis and other financial due diligence best practices. The additional factor is shariah-compliance which takes precedence when structuring any financial solution. Generally, the main challenge may be structuring the right mix of Islamic Finance contracts to achieve the goal of the customer while simultaneously educating them on the proposed approach and how it achieves shariah-compliance. This may be easier for a Muslim corporate customer who is keen on shariah-compliance due to their faith but can be new territory for a non-Muslim customer dealing with Islamic Finance for the first time. My team works extensively with the Shariah Advisory Board at KCB who are an independent body of Islamic jurisprudence experts that ensures our operations, products, and investments comply strictly with Islamic Law.
Further, challenges may also arise in implementing the steps required in the chosen Islamic Finance contract(s) to maintain shariah-compliance while safeguarding reasonable turn-around-times for the customer. Unlike conventional banking practices, most Islamic Finance solutions do not involve cash being deposited into the corporate customer’s account or access to cash via an overdraft limit but instead focus on payment directly to suppliers or billers related to the transaction being supported. This requires a good working understanding of the customers’ business ecosystem to properly structure and identify necessary controls in disbursing the financing required to meet working capital and capital expenditure needs.
- Islamic vs. Conventional Banking from a Customer Perspective
From your experience in the Tanzanian market, what is the biggest misconception that customers have about Islamic banking? How do you educate customers and build trust in Shariah-compliant products?
There are many misconceptions about Islamic Banking in the market. Below are the two common ones:
- Islamic Banking is only for Muslims – this continues to be one of the biggest misconceptions largely due to the name of the practice given that it derives its foundational principles from the Holy Quran and Sunnah (Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ) within Islamic Theology. Various initiatives by several stakeholders in the industry including the Government continue to educate the public and awareness is slowly building year on year. This misconception will not be as prominent as time goes by.
- Islamic Banking is a charitable activity – some customers are not well-informed about how Islamic Banking generates income given that interest is all they have been exposed to in the banking industry. Hence, many are led to believe that Islamic Banking does not have costs as we are usually called “interest-free banking” or “non-interest banking”.
At KCB, we play our part in educating customers to build trust in shariah-compliant products by sponsoring educational conferences aimed at different groups including spiritual leaders, youth, women and business leaders while also providing material in both English and Swahili that explain our Islamic banking products in a simplified manner to invite further dialogue. We also sponsored a 1-hour live TV / Radio / Social Media program that ran once a week for 6 weeks in 2024 via a well-known media house that featured our Islamic Banking Management Team, Shariah Board Members, and invited experts in the industry to cover the fundamentals of Islamic banking and what KCB offers in this space. These continuing efforts aim to bridge the gap in understanding within the community.
- The Corporate Relationship Management Approach
Your background includes serving as Senior Relationship Manager and Corporate Relationship Manager. How do you apply relationship management principles to Islamic banking? How do you build and maintain relationships with corporate clients seeking Islamic financing?
“Relationship” is the key word in all the roles I have served so far. We deal with people and not robots and cultivating a genuine relationship with customers that does not feel forced or gimmicky is the key to successfully growing any business whether Islamic Banking or conventional.
I borrow learnings from one of my favorite books called “To Sell Is Human” authored by Daniel Pink where he argues that everyone is in sales because we spend about 40% of our time “moving others” – persuading, influencing, and convincing people to part with resources (i.e. their time, money, assets, etc.) By cultivating the skill to understand others perspective to match their viewpoints, staying resilient against rejection while maintaining optimism, and helping customers identify problems they might not even know they have and curating a solution that fits well for them, I am able to persuade them to work with my team at KCB in a healthy relationship that feels like a partnership and not your traditional salesman pitch.
- Treasury and Islamic Banking
You have experience as a Treasury Sales Dealer. How does treasury operations differ in an Islamic bank compared to a conventional bank? What are the key considerations in managing liquidity and investment in a Shariah-compliant manner?
Islamic Banking typically does not host derivative products that tend to be speculative due to shariah-compliance prohibitions on excessive uncertainty in transactions known as “Gharar”. Hence, spot transactions are preferred over future traded transactions that can typically be done under conventional banking.
Liquidity management comes down to having good deposit customer relationships, interbank with other Islamic Banking service providers, utilizing capital markets products such as the Sukuk to raise funds, and wealth management services to attract consumer investment funds. Unfortunately, we still don’t have an active treasury bills and bonds system at the Government level that is shariah-compliant in Tanzania and ability to access a shariah-compliant lender of last resort window. However, given the great work that is already being done within the government to establish guidelines for Islamic Banking over the years, we remain optimistic that it is only a matter of time until we get there.
- CEO Apprenticeship and Leadership Development
You are currently participating in the CEO Apprenticeship Programme at Strathmore University. What drew you to this program? How do you see it shaping your leadership approach and your vision for Islamic banking in Tanzania?
I was fortunate to join Cohort 5 between Sept 2024 to Sept 2025 of CEO Apprenticeship Programme (CAP) which focused on Organizational Leadership Skills at the C-Level.
This is a brilliant program that hosts a limited number of highly performing private and public sector leaders from different industries for 1 year and prepares its participants to fulfill multifaceted responsibilities, enabling them to build and lead competitive, high-performing organizations. Simultaneously, the Programme guides leaders through personal exploration to build self-awareness and emotional intelligence, delving into the core of their experiences to strengthen their leadership capacities.
CAP has shaped me into a better leader by providing me with exposure to a highly talented pool of individuals leading in various industries from which to draw ideas, support, and mentorship from. Further, the programs requirement to design and execute a project that directly addresses critical socio-economic challenges in Tanzania within the 1-year period challenged my ability to work within a small dynamic team and under a tight deadline to deliver results.
This experience reinforced my belief that at the core of Leadership is people. Being able to make genuine connections with people, aligning on a shared purpose, establishing clear roles, building a psychologically safe environment, and maintaining clear and effective communication will elevate an organization to greater heights. If the business model is correct, and the people are taken care of, then the numbers will come.
- The KCB Group Advantage
KCB is a major pan-African banking group. How does being part of the KCB Group benefit the Islamic banking division in Tanzania? Are there synergies with KCB’s operations in other markets like Kenya, which has a more developed Islamic finance sector?
KCB Group has Islamic Banking operations active in 3 countries, namely Tanzania, Kenya, and Burundi. We regularly share cross-cutting lessons from the Islamic Banking Industry that benefit how we approach out business as a group and in our respective jurisdictions. Synergies exist by way of information sharing, technology, as well as customer transactions. A regional customer can receive shariah-compliant services from Kenya to Tanzania and into Burundi with plans to extend the services to the other East African countries that we operate.
- Financial Inclusion and Islamic Banking
Tanzania has a significant unbanked population. What role can Islamic banking play in promoting financial inclusion? What products or services are best suited to reach underserved communities in Tanzania?
Beyond the shariah-compliant aspect of Islamic Banking which already promotes financial inclusion to underserved faith-based customers, the next frontier is simplified digital banking solutions that are shariah-compliant and easy to use for the masses. A customer in Tanzania should be able to digitally access a bank account, save, get financing, invest, and make payments seamlessly while maintaining shariah-compliance wherever they are. Products that are designed around these needs and provide the most value will be able to reduce the number of unbanked population in Tanzania.
- Advice for Aspiring Islamic Bankers in East Africa
For someone starting a career in Islamic banking in East Africa, particularly in Tanzania, what advice would you give? What skills should they prioritize? How can they build a successful career in this growing but still emerging sector?
It is important to note that non-Muslims can also work in the Islamic Banking industry just as the products and services are available anyone.
That said, anyone looking to work in the Islamic Banking industry should have a basic understanding of shariah-compliance and how it is applied to various products and services across banking, capital markets, and insurance (Takaful). This is in addition to the fundamental banking and finance skills required, such as sales and credit skills, to better understand the business and navigate available opportunities.
For support personnel in functions such as compliance, audit, risk, finance, and operations, a deeper working knowledge in their selected area of expertise is required in safeguarding the Islamic Bank against potential shariah-risks in its operations.
Ultimately, your ability to learn, adapt, and move people will play a large role in how successful you become in the industry whether as a front line or supporting personnel.