Bank of Ghana Appoints Nigerian Islamic Scholar to Head Non-Interest Banking Council

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has inaugurated a five-member Non-Interest Financial Advisory Council (NIFAC) to guide the rollout of the country's non-interest, or Islamic, banking sector, with Nigerian Islamic scholar Prof. Bashir Aliyu Umar of Bayero University, Kano, reportedly appointed to lead it, according to Hausa-language reports from RFI.

The council was formally inaugurated at a ceremony in Accra by BoG Governor Dr. Johnson Pandit Asiama, marking the central bank's shift from developing a regulatory framework to actively implementing non-interest banking as a new segment of Ghana's financial sector.

Members of the newly-inaugurated council posed for photographs at the event beneath a screen displaying the Bank of Ghana crest and the inauguration banner.

Prof. Umar is a prominent figure in Islamic finance circles. He currently serves as Deputy Chairman of the Financial Regulation Advisory Council of Experts (FRACE) at the Central Bank of Nigeria, a role in which he has helped shape governance standards for non-interest financial institutions. He also serves as President of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah in Nigeria (SCSN) and was a special adviser to the CBN Governor on non-interest banking between 2010 and 2014, a period during which Nigeria's first non-interest banks were licensed.

Ghana's move toward non-interest banking has been building for months. The BoG published a draft regulatory framework in December 2025 and comprehensive operational guidelines in January 2026. Speaking in May, Governor Asiama disclosed that at least one indigenous bank had formally applied for a non-interest banking licence, with four others preparing applications, and expressed hope the first licence would be issued before the end of 2026.

The Bank has stressed that non-interest banking, though commonly associated with Islamic finance, will be open to all Ghanaians regardless of religion, and that licensed institutions cannot be affiliated with any particular faith.

Mustapha Bature Sallama medical Science communicator, Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,United States Institute of Peace (USIP), [email protected] +233555275880

Sources:
RFI Hausa https://rfi.my/CyPe (primary source for Prof. Umar's appointment; not yet independently corroborated in English-language coverage/

B&FT, "BoG inaugurates council to drive non-interest banking" (Aug 19, 2026) https://thebftonline.com/article/bog-inaugurates-council-to-drive-non-interest-banking

Graphic Online, "BoG eyes historic non-interest banking launch in Ghana this year" https://www.graphic.com.gh/business/business-news/bog-eyes-historic-non-interest-banking-launch-in-ghana-this-year.html

Al-Mubarak Waqf, biography of Dr. Bashir Aliyu Umar https://almubarakwaqf.org/dr-bashir-aliyu-umar/