By: Nyima Sillah
The Yonna Foreign Bureau Thursday launched the first Islamic Shariah Microfinance program in the country during an event held in its head office at Tippa garage.
The Microfinance program aimed to build a sustainable and authentic Islamic Microfinance institution that will boost the socioeconomic of the country.
Speaking at the press conference, Alhagie Muhammed Suwanneh, Managing Director Yonna Foreign Bureau, said: the Microfinance intends to target clients with innovative savings and financing products that produce win-win scenarios for both Yonna Islamic microfinance and its esteemed stakeholders.
“Our target clientele are mainly women and youth groups involved in the agriculture value chain, also individual and corporate businesses involved in all forms of economic activities,” he added.
Also, he said Yonna Islamic Microfinance intends to go beyond sharia compliance and become sharia performing. Adding that, that will require not just loans but to take strong interest in the performing of their businesses.
“As part of best practice, we want to put consumer protection at the core of all our activities. This consumer protection will revolve around issues of avoiding over indebtedness, transparent pricing, ethical collection practices, ethical staff behaviour mechanism for redress of grievances and privacy of client,” he added.
Meanwhile, Yonna Microfinance has a mix of flexible liquid and illiquid savings products that caters for the needs of its diverse clientele.
One thing that makes their services unique, he disclosed, is that all their services are strictly in-line with the Sharia and they charge profit rather than interest. “Islamic Microfinance is not going to involve in any form of business that have the element of “haram”, Director added.
Yonna Islamic Microfinance was licensed by the Central Bank of The Gambia under the non-Bank financial institutions Act of 2016 on the 12th of April 2021. The provision of this licence made Yonna Islamic Microfinance the first full-fledged Islamic Microfinance institution in the