West Africa Takaful holds seminar on Islamic insurance principles

The West African Takaful limited, conceived in 2018 has been active these past years to perfect the idea of Islamic insurance in the country.

Momodou M. Joof, director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of West Africa Takaful Insurance acknowledged that when the idea of (Takaful) was floated, young Gambian professionals and business executives embraced the idea leading to the achievement of D30, 000,000 within a short time frame.

“This amount is twice the statutory requirement laid down by the regulators and as law-abiding citizens, the due process was followed with the regulatory authority resulting in the issuance of the operating license in July 2020.”

The principles and practice of Takaful, he added, must be based on ethics, transparency and fairness.

Also speaking, Pa Alieu Silah, a representative from the Central Bank of The Gambia revealed that West Africa Takaful insurance places more emphasis on the principle of wellbeing rather than profit maximization under conventional insurance.

This, he added, provides a window of opportunity in these trying times.

However, Sillah maintained that the industry has withstood the test of the 2008-09 global financial crises and therefore can be a game-changer in empowering financial resilience.

“The financial world including the insurance industry has been very dynamic and this dynamism results from factors including globalization and sophistication of customers and products.”

He added; “The growth pattern of Takaful is indeed impressive since it was established barely 12 years ago. Takaful Gambia limited, the first registered in The Gambia has also recorded a strong growth mirroring global trends.”