Nigeria Quiet capital rising: Nigeria's Islamic Finance Market Eyes $4 Billion Surge

A parallel financial ecosystem worth $4 billion has been quietly building strength through regulatory innovation and growing sophistication, operating beyond the headlines that dominate conventional banking. Fitch Ratings forecasts a boom in Nigeria's Islamic finance sector from the second half of 2025 through 2026, driven by rising sovereign sukuk issuances and expanding Islamic banking assets following new regulatory measures and liquidity tools introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This surge represents not just economic opportunity, but the maturation of an alternative approach to finance that prioritises ethical investment and risk-sharing over interest-based transactions.

The transformation reflects deeper shifts in Nigeria's financial landscape, where innovation often emerges from necessity rather than choice.

Key Takeaways:

• Sukuk outstanding is the largest segment of the Islamic finance industry at 53.9 per cent, followed by Islamic banking assets at 45.2 per cent, and the rest includes takaful and sharia-compliant funds
• Non-interest banks' assets recorded a growth of 110 per cent year-on-year as of end-2024, driven by a significant increase from deposits and loans, each more than doubling in value
• Despite this substantial growth, the market share in the country's total banking assets only increased to a still small 1.7 per cent at end-2024 from 1.1 per cent at end-2023
• A new non-interest bank, Summit Bank Limited, was established in 2024, bringing the total to five operating institutions

The quiet revolution continues, powered by regulatory support and growing sophistication. Yet the most intriguing question remains: can ethical finance principles scale without losing their foundational commitment to shared prosperity? As this parallel economy grows, Nigeria may discover that alternative approaches to capital hold lessons for conventional finance itself.