Islamic finance and its role in SME development case in point: Egypt

Abstract

This research aims to introduce a comprehensive Shari’ah-compliant financial services offering in Egypt, to be utilised as a growth engine for Egypt’s small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). The applied methodology utilises available literature on Islamic finance and primary information derived from Egypt’s banking and investment practices and SMEs status and problems. The findings reveal that Egypt offers a valuable opportunity to rejuvenate its Islamic finance offering. The findings serve as a first guidance towards creating an Islamic finance offering while eliminating the funding bias towards larger corporations. The topic is original and not tackled by previous literature; useful for both academics and practitioners.