From August to September 2025, CIFCA Secretary General and Zanzibar Sukuk SPC Chairman participated in the Islamic Capital Market Summer School 2025, jointly organized by the Securities Commission Malaysia and the Durham Centre for Islamic Economics and Finance (DCIEF), hosted at Durham University Business School. The programme comprised both online and residential components, providing comprehensive executive-level exposure to global Islamic capital market practices, regulatory frameworks, and innovation trends.
Key Objectives:
Participation of the Chairman of the Zanzibar Sukuk SPV, is a strong reflection of a deliberate and strategic commitment by the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar to build senior-level technical capacity in Islamic capital markets. This participation underscores the Government’s recognition that developing internal expertise is a critical prerequisite for establishing a credible, Shariah-compliant, and globally competitive capital market ecosystem.
In particular, the engagement forms part of the foundational preparation for Zanzibar’s strategic ambition to establish the Zanzibar Stock Exchange, with Islamic capital markets especially sukuk expected to play a central role.
The programme had therefore aimed at contributing directly to:
- Strengthening Zanzibar’s readiness for capital market development
- Enhancing capacity for structuring and issuing sukuk instruments
- Supporting future regulatory and institutional frameworks
At the institutional level, CIFCA Secretary General’s participation was strategically designed to position CIFCA as a technically competent, globally connected, and policy-relevant institution in Islamic capital markets.
The engagement aimed at strategically strengthening CIFCA’s:
- Institutional technical capacity
- Regulatory engagement capability
- International strategic positioning.
Key Output:
Participation in SC-DICMSS 2025 represents a strategic milestone for CIFCA and Zanzibar’s capital market ambitions. It has:
- Strengthened institutional and technical capacity
- Enabled credible regulatory engagement
- Positioned CIFCA as a regional leader in Islamic finance
- Contributed to the foundation for Zanzibar Stock Exchange development
Importantly, the programme also facilitated high-level networking, including initial engagement with stakeholders linked to the London Stock Exchange ecosystem, creating pathways for future collaboration in sukuk listing, cross-border investment, and capital market development. CIFCA also benefited from this occasion by signing an MoU with a London International Academy for Excellence for collaboration in providing Sharia’h complains solutions to Islamic Finance stakeholders in Tanzania.
As part of networking, Tanzanian Delegate had the opportunity to meet Brother Syed Najeeb, from the Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI) who was involved in the earlier discussions of collaboration arrangements between CIFCA and IsDBI and provided key contact that was dealing with CIFCA’s onboarding arrangements to the IsDBI initiatives.
