Nigeria: Sanwo-Olu and Fashola advocate for non-interest finance to boost growth

Non-interest finance, also known as participatory or Islamic finance, has been gaining ground in Nigeria for several years, driven by sovereign sukuk issuances aimed at funding infrastructure and by the authorities' desire to diversify capital sources amid the high cost of conventional debt. It is in this context that Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and former governor and federal minister Babatunde Fashola spoke out in favor of increased reliance on this financing model to support the country's economic growth, according to Premium Times. Other industry officials, not named in the dispatch, also called for a broader adoption of non-interest finance, describing it as 'an essential tool for mobilizing long-term capital and supporting Nigeria's productive economy'. This call comes as the country seeks to broaden its investor base, particularly among the under-banked Muslim population, and to finance structural projects without increasing the conventional debt service. For businesses and the state, this could open up a complementary financing channel to traditional bonds, already utilized through several federal sukuk issuances since 2017. However, the source dispatch remains very brief: it does not specify the context of these statements, the amounts discussed, or the identity of the 'other industry leaders' cited.