CAIRO - 24 May 2026: Egypt’s Islamic finance sector continued its strong expansion, reaching LE1.629 trillion by the end of March 2026, growing 26 percent year-on-year compared to March 2025, according to Mohamed El-Beltagy, Chairman of the Egyptian Association for Islamic Finance.
He said the Egyptian banking market currently includes 14 banks licensed by the Central Bank of Egypt to offer Islamic banking services, including four fully fledged Islamic banks: Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt, Al Baraka Bank Egypt, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank – Egypt, and Kuwait Finance House, in addition to 10 banks offering Islamic windows alongside conventional operations.
Islamic banking assets rose to LE1.363 trillion, accounting for around 5.2 percent of total banking sector assets, reflecting an increase of LE280 billion over the year.
The association noted that the Central Bank of Egypt issued LE33 billion in sukuk on behalf of the Ministry of Finance during 2025–2026, as part of liquidity management tools for Islamic banks similar to treasury bills. Total sukuk issuances in Egypt reached about LE237 billion by March 2026, including sovereign and corporate instruments.
El-Beltagy added that Egypt has issued nine corporate sukuk worth LE33.6 billion since the introduction of the Corporate Sukuk Law in 2018, with more than five new issuances currently under review.
He also highlighted Egypt’s sovereign sukuk programme, including a $1.5 billion issuance in 2023, followed by further issuances in 2025, bringing the total equivalent to around LE200 billion.
The Islamic finance ecosystem in Egypt now includes 17 Sharia-compliant investment funds, seven takaful insurance companies, and two Islamic mortgage finance firms, alongside around 10 non-banking financial companies offering Sharia-compliant products, with Islamic non-banking activity estimated at around LE33 billion.
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