Marketing and Strategy for Islamic Finance Industry in West Africa: Case Study Burkina – Faso

Description

During centuries, philosophers and economists’ theories tried to carry out models and ideas to bring wealth to human being. The struggle between capitalism and communism turns in favour of the first. Unfortunately, this system of thought and organization of economy failed to achieve the objective i.e. equal distribution of incomes, price stability, full employment, reduction of poverty… The result is that the richness of the world belongs to a few persons. A lot of people even in developed countries are poor; the ecological issues are not taken in charge. Men and nations are selfish. A third way is promoted by Islamic scholars. Islamic economy recognizes private property, free market. It also calls people to more responsibility towards the common interest, the world, ethical and moral considerations in business. Islamic finance is the most dynamic segment of the large sector of Islamic economy. During the three last decades the Islamic Finance industry grows at the annual rate between 15 to 20% to reach the total assets of 3.2 trillion in 2017. In the same time the development of Islamic finance industry in West Africa is slow. The ignorance of the population, the newest and lack of regulation in regional level, the inappropriate taxation system of the member states of the WAEMU, the lack of qualified human resources and the absence of Shari’ah compliant offer are announced to explain the weakness of Islamic finance in the region. Marketing of Islamic financial services in West Africa still focuses heavily on religious messages.