Morocco announced on Friday the launch of Takaful insurance to boost participatory finance and support the activities of Islamic banks.
The Insurance and Social Reserves Supervision Authority (government) said in a statement that it had granted credits to participating (Islamic) banks to offer Takaful insurance products.
She added: It is now possible for approved Takaful insurance contractors to conduct this activity based on the conformity opinions issued by the Supreme Scientific Council (an official body in charge of fatwas).
In its statement, the Insurance Supervision and Social Reserve Authority continued, "Takaful insurance operations are concerned with the subject of the granted credits: life and death, insurance operations for the risks of physical accidents, and insurance operations for fire and natural events."
The insurance extends - according to the statement - to the risks of glass breakage, the risks of losses resulting from water, and the symbiotic investment.
The authority explained that activating the Takaful insurance will enable the promotion and development of many products of the participatory banks through new offers in insurance, as well as responding to the needs of a group of citizens in the field of insurance coverage.
In March 2017, the Central Bank granted its approval to use 5 types of Islamic banking transactions, thus giving the final regulatory approval to launch the Islamic finance industry in the country.
At that time, Bank Al-Maghrib (the Central Bank) agreed to open 5 Islamic banks, and to license three Moroccan banks to offer participatory banking products to their customers.
Data from the Central Bank of Morocco (Bank Al-Maghrib) indicate that the financing provided by the participatory banks in Morocco rose, on an annual basis, by 34%, last April, to reach about 20.7 billion dirhams (about two billion dollars).