From IslamicFinance.com.

Professor Shehu Usman Rano Aliyu, director of the International Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance at Bayero University, Nigeria, said Islamic banking and finance is the best option for tackling challenges faced by the Nigerian economy.

Nigeria ranks second only to Saudi Arabia for gross domestic product among members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

(The OIC is an association of 56 Islamic states promoting Muslim solidarity in economic, social, and political affairs.)

Usman Hassan is CEO of Jaiz Bank, a Nigeria-based Islamic bank set up in 2003.

At a recent Islamic finance conference in Nigeria, Hassan urged the Nigerian government to take a closer look at sovereign sukuk issuances to fund infrastructure projects.

“Sukuk are very apt for Nigeria, as you cannot have failed projects…for every project you have, you are raising government money and it has to be accounted for, the financier (investor) will not allow abuse,” Hassan said.

He urged to government to look at the structure of sukuk to see how it can benefit the Nigerian economy as a source of foreign direct investment from a diverse new investor base.

(Sukuk is the Islamic equivalent of bonds, according to a definition by IslamicDevelopmentBank. Unlike conventional bonds, sukuk grants the investor a share of an asset along with the risk, according to the bank.)

Read more at IslamicFinance.com.