Ghana wrote its non-interest rulebook. Here's what's on the page.
Late penalties go to charity, loss is signed for in writing, and no bank may carry a religious name. Seven things in Ghana's non-interest banking rulebook, plus salam set against a pre-harvest loan.
Islamic and non-interest finance in Africa, read at source. Free every Thursday, for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. I’m a Fellow of the Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals, not a scholar: every Sharia position here is attributed to a named standard or body. Nothing here is a ruling.
Most writing on Islamic finance is either selling a product or giving a ruling. This edition does neither. It reads the documents: the regulation, the standard, the contract. Then it tells you what is on the page.
First up, the document Tuesday’s Digest promised: Ghana’s rulebook, page by page.
One document, read
Bank of Ghana, Guideline for the Regulation and Supervision of Non-Interest Banking (13 January 2026, 26 pages)
Seven things on the page that most coverage skipped:
- 12 named contracts, plus “any other” (para 52). Murabahah, salam, istisna’a, ijarah, mudarabah, musharakah, qard al-hassan, wakala, kafala, rahn, wa’ad and hiba. Each product still needs the Bank’s approval.
- Late penalties can’t be income (para 55). Where a bank levies one, it must sit in a separate account and go “in their entirety to charitable causes”.
- Windows keep separate money (paras 60 to 65). A conventional bank can sell non-interest products through a window, using its branches, but must keep separate books and a ring-fenced fund.
- A 3-person advisory committee for every bank (para 72), with at least one Ghanaian, one woman and one independent member (para 76). No one may sit on two banks’ committees (para 74). Members must know IFRS, IFSB, AAOIFI and Basel standards (para 75).
- No religious names (para 91). A licensed name can’t carry “any religious connotation, symbol or any other related expression”. Marketing material follows the same rule.
- Loss in writing, before the account opens (paras 97 and 98). A profit-sharing account holder must get and sign a notice that “the risk of financial loss rests with the client”, unless the bank was negligent or at fault. Skip the notice and the fine is 500 penalty units (para 100).
- 60% of foreign capital in hard currency (para 20). A foreign owner must bring at least 60% of the required capital into Ghana in convertible currency.
Ghana didn’t write a rulebook for Muslims. It wrote one for anyone who wants a bank that shares risk instead of charging for time, and it makes the client sign for that risk.
What I didn’t find: a minimum capital figure (para 19 leaves it to a separate notice), or any institution holding a licence today. If you’ve seen either at source, send it.
One concept, applied
Salam: the pre-harvest contract on Ghana’s list
Ghana’s list includes salam (para 52(b)). In a salam the buyer pays the full price now, for goods of a known type, quantity and grade, delivered later. Set against a pre-harvest loan, the differences sit in the detail. From AAOIFI’s Shari’ah Standard 10:
| Question | Pre-harvest loan | Salam, per AAOIFI Standard 10 |
|---|---|---|
| When is the money paid? | Lent now, repaid with interest | Full price at signing, or within 2 to 3 days at most (3/1/3) |
| Can an old debt become the payment? | Depends on the loan terms | No. A debt can’t be used as the salam price (3/1/4) |
| Late repayment or delivery | Whatever the loan terms set | No penalty clause allowed (5/7). If the seller can’t deliver because they’re insolvent, they get more time (5/6) |
| Must it come from the farmer’s own field? | n/a | It can’t be tied to a specific piece of land. Matching goods from anywhere will do (3/2/3) |
| Can the buyer resell before delivery? | n/a | Not the goods themselves (4/1). A separate, unlinked salam to a third party is allowed (6/2, 6/3) |
The point for a lender: salam moves the risk from the farmer’s repayment to the buyer’s ability to check the farmer and the crop. That makes the farmer’s record the asset. A duplicate record isn’t an admin error any more. It’s a price paid twice in cash, before anything is harvested.
One capital signal
Two regulators, three days
On 18 August 2026, the Bank of Ghana inaugurated a council to advise its banking, securities and insurance regulators on non-interest products. On 21 August 2026, Nigeria’s SEC made rules requiring a registered Shariah Adviser for every Shariah-compliant capital market product. To register, an individual needs a Shariah degree or AAOIFI’s adviser certificate, and two years’ relevant experience, or one year plus five courses (rule 4).
Both moves do the same thing: they make “Sharia-compliant” a claim someone named has to sign.
One question for founders
Before you sign a non-interest financing or open a profit-sharing account, anywhere, ask:
“Who reviewed this product, and can I see the written terms on what happens if it loses money?”
In Ghana, both now have to exist on paper. Elsewhere, if the answer is vague, so is the product.
One question back: which document should this edition read next? A sukuk prospectus, a bank’s product terms or a regulator’s circular. Reply to the email edition or send it to me on LinkedIn.
Sources, all read at source: Bank of Ghana guideline (13 Jan 2026) and NIFAC FAQs (Aug 2026); AAOIFI Shari’ah Standard No. 10; SEC Nigeria, Rules on Shariah Advisory Services (21 Aug 2026).
Disclosure. I’m building a non-interest finance venture, Ascent Finance. This edition never promotes it and uses none of its private data. Research flows one way only: public research may inform the venture, never the reverse. No bank, scholar or institution named here has paid for or reviewed this edition.