In Tunisia, Islamic finance covers fully Islamic banks, windows opened by conventional banks, Sukuk and Takaful insurance, governed by the 2016 banking law, the 2013 Sukuk law and the insurance code.
Al Baraka, Zitouna, Wifak: the three dedicated institutions
The market rests on three fully Islamic banks. Al Baraka Bank Tunisia, long limited to non-resident business, became a universal bank in January 2013. Banque Zitouna has operated since 2010, and Wifak International Bank since 2017.
From a leasing company to an Islamic bank
Wifak grew out of El Wifack Leasing, active since 2002. Its conversion into a bank in April 2017 came with a large capital increase to 150 million dinars, enabling it to open a branch network and take deposits.
Banque Zitouna and retail customers
Launched in 2010, Banque Zitouna grew mainly with households: interest-free accounts and car and home finance through Murabaha or Ijara. Its group also includes a microfinance institution, Zitouna Tamkeen, and a Takaful company.
How a Murabaha car finance deal is priced
The bank buys the car, say for 60,000 dinars, and resells it to the client with a margin fixed at signing, paid in monthly instalments. The total price then stays fixed, unlike a variable-rate loan indexed to the money-market rate.
Banking law 2016-48 brings Islamic finance into mainstream law
Adopted in July 2016, the law on banks and financial institutions devotes a chapter to Islamic finance operations. Before it, Islamic banks operated under the same rules as conventional banks, without specific provisions.
Islamic windows in conventional banks
The law allows a conventional bank to offer Islamic products through a window, subject to central bank authorisation. The stated aim was to widen supply and competition beyond the three specialised institutions.
A mandatory compliance committee
Every institution carrying out Islamic operations must have a committee monitoring compliance with Sharia standards, whose opinion is binding on products. The central bank remains in charge of prudential supervision, not religious interpretation.
Keeping Islamic funds apart from conventional funds
For a window, the main challenge is ring-fencing: deposits collected under Sharia must not fund interest-bearing loans. Separate accounts and dedicated reporting to the central bank are used to demonstrate this.
Law No. 2013-30 on Islamic Sukuk
Enacted on 30 July 2013, this law defines Sukuk as negotiable securities representing equal shares in assets, usufructs, services or rights. Decrees issued in 2017 then set out how the common Sukuk fund works, paving the way for issues.
Private issues on the Tunisian capital market
Private issuers have used this framework under the supervision of the Conseil du marché financier. In 2023, Zitouna Tamkeen issued Sukuk without a public offering to refinance its compliant microfinance business.
Takaful: the 2014 insurance code reform
Law No. 2014-47 of 24 July 2014 amended the insurance code to include Takaful. The model separates the participants' fund, fed by mutual contributions, from the operator, which is paid a fee.
Why growth remains contained
Islamic banks aimed for 15% of banking assets by 2022, against about 7% in 2017, an ambitious goal given the competition. The lack of compliant liquidity instruments and residual double taxation on some sales slow progress.
Specialist external source
The Banque Centrale de Tunisie website publishes banking regulations, circulars applying to Islamic finance operations and statistics on the Tunisian banking sector.