JAIZ Bank Plc, the non-interest Islamic bank, is set to commence operations in Ibadan, Oyo State before the end of this year as it moves to expand its operations in the South West, the Group Head, Public Sector of the bank, Mallam Ismail Adamu, disclosed at the weekend.
He was addressing participants at the maiden shareholders’ forum organized by the South West Zonal Committee for the operation of the bank. He said all documentation and other logistics to this end were already being put in place.
Adamu who represented the bank’s Managing Director, Muhammad Nurul-Islam at the forum, described Jaiz Bank, with a capital base of N42bn, as a bridge between the poor and the rich, saying it presently has 139,977 customers.
Adamu said the bank made a profit of N157m in 2014 and gave out up to N500m in charity through an arm of the bank called JAIZ Foundation.
Chairman of the Zonal Committee for the Operation, Alhaji Lasun Sanusi (SAN), said the bank was aware of the teething problems it would face, expressing optimism, however, it would survive because of the success it has so far recorded.
An economist, Prof. Abdul-Hakeem Mobolaji, in a lecture at the forum condemned ‘exploitative’ interest rates charged by Nigerian banks and urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to relax its regulations for Islamic banks to grow.
