IslamicFinance.de

The strongly growing popularity of Islamic banking and Islamic finance and its increasing global spread has led to a considerable undersupply of talent in this sector. Both the Middle East and Southeast Asia, but also new regions currently adapting to the alternative finance system such as in Africa and Central Asia are effected.

Estimations are that there is a shortfall of between 8,000 and 10,000 in main Islamic finance fields in Gulf Cooperation Council countries alone, plus more in peripheral sectors such as law and regulatory affairs, financial technology, insurance and others. Altogether, as the industry continues to grow, at least 56,000 people will be needed to serve the Islamic financial sector in the coming years, according to the Finance Accreditation Agency of Malaysia.
“Islamic banking assets in six core markets – Qatar, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the UAE and Turkey – are estimated to reach a combined asset volume of $1.8tn by 2019,” says Dr. Amat Taap Manshor, the FAA’s CEO. “But the human capital meant to support the industry is still in its infancy, and shortages will be felt most acutely in the capital market sector,” he added.

Malaysia’s Islamic insurers are considering a move into Europe by targeting the continent’s growing Muslim population. Amat Taap Manshor, chief of the Financial Accreditation Agency (FAA), said it may not happen right away but a lot of Islamic insurers are looking to target the Muslim middle classes in the UK, Germany and France. Manshor made the comments during the signing of a memorandum of collaboration between the FAA and the British accreditation council (BAC). The partnership hopes to offer financial services globally accredited courses in Islamic finance.

The Islamic Finance industry in the country is facing an acute shortage of talent to serve the growing needs of the industry, as it is seeing a mismatch between the supply and demand of skilled workers in the niche financial sector. Chief executive director of Finance Accreditation Agency (FAA) Dr. Amat Taap Manshor said that globally, there is a shortage of close to 56,000 professionals to serve the growing industry.
Dr. Amat told the audience during a forum at the 11th World Islamic Economic Forum that there needs to be a deeper collaboration between academia and the industry to address the shortage. “The capital market sector is seeing the most acute shortage of Islamic Finance professionals, followed by takaful and banking,” Dr. Amat told reporters on the sideline after the forum. He said addressing the shortage issue has to be a continuous effort by all parties in the industry, and hopes that the country can see 40,000 Islamic Finance professionals in the market by 2020.