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Nigeria’s first full fledged Islamic lender, Jaiz Bank Plc, clocks 10 years in the banking sector, according to a statement shared with MarketForces Africa on Friday.
Jaiz bank commenced operations on January 6, 2012, with 3 branches in Abuja, Kaduna and Kano and has expanded to cover a significant landmass in the country.
Despite paying the huge costs associated with pioneering, the Bank was able to break even within the first three years of operation, which was unprecedented at the time, the statement reads.
Jaiz Bank started with a modest Balance Sheet size of N12billion in 2012; closed 2020 financial year at N278 billion (Total Assets & Contingents) and grew all other key performance indices exponentially over the years.
Through its’ unique value proposition, Jaiz Bank has, within a decade, made a remarkable impact in empowering women, driving financial inclusion and supporting various strata of businesses in the real sector of the economy, Agriculture, Real Estate, Construction, Oil & Gas, General Commerce, etc.
Within this period, the Bank was rated by the Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA), assigning it an investment grade rating of BBB.
Most recently, the Bank also got an upgrade from both Agusto and GCR to BBB and BBB- respectively with a stable outlook. Besides, Fitch also did its’ first rating of this promising institution, and it came out at the same impressive level.
It was therefore not surprising that the Bank gained international recognition as it won the Most Improved Islamic Bank award for 2020 and 2021 consecutively from the Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA), among other accolades.
Speaking on the achievement, the Managing Director/CEO, Hassan Usman while thanking Allaah, then the regulators, customers, Board, Management, staff and other stakeholders for their tremendous support, expressed great delight at the giant strides being taken by the Bank.
“Today, our Bank officially clocks ten years since it first opened its doors to customers on the 6th of January 2012. The journey was much like a roller coaster – you experience some degree of fear at the onset, but subsequently, excitement takes over when the carriage takes off and you feel that euphoria of defying the odds of gravity”, he said.
Jaiz Chief Executive explains that after the take-off, momentum is gradually gathered and stopping the coaster becomes not an option, the wisest thing to do is make every jerk and movement worthwhile and impactful.
“That is what we did, we lived every moment, learning from each mistake, supporting our customers through thick and thin while pressing on – despite the absence of essential non-interest banking enablers – to pioneer a nascent sub-sector that is now bourgeoning with players and accolades.
“We are happy to pioneer an industry that was not there; creating confidence for other people to come in, and we believe that we’ve done that very well.
“The year 2022 is special to us as it marks a decade of progress in our Islamic banking journey and I am extremely fulfilled for the opportunity of leading the team for a larger part of the journey.
“From a very humble beginning in 2012, the Bank has successfully developed a remarkable brand that is iconic both locally and internationally”, he noted. Jaiz Bank, Nigeria’s First Full Fledged Islamic Lender, Clocks 10
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