Participatory finance in Sudanese banking system: Perceptions on performance, obstacles and prospects

Abstract

Islamic finance has gained important momentum in the 1990s, and is now recognised by financial institutions and regulators all over the world. The development of Islamic finance in the Sudan has been through the Islamisation of economic and financial sectors along with the political shift towards Islam. It is, therefore, important to asses the progress and performance of Islamic financial instruments in a political setting such as in the Sudan. The study, therefore, covers, explores and evaluates the development of Islamic banking in the Sudan for the period 1990-2005 mainly, by focusing on five main areas: first, it investigates whether the PLS contracts are dominating the Islamic banking system in Sudan. Second, the study evaluates musharakah characteristics and its performance perceptions. Also, the study analyses how staff characteristics, bank characteristics and overall environment affect the preferences and performance of musharakah finance. Third, it investigates the factors influencing decision making in Islamic banks as regard to musharakah finance. Fourth, it investigates the implications of using musharakah mode of finance. In this regard, this study examines the perception of the implications of using the musharakah mode of finance by the Sudanese Islamic banks and provides an empirical assessment of these perceptions about musharakah characteristics, performance, preference and obstacles. This study also provides an empirical investigation of how central bank policies have affected musharakah finance in Sudan. Fifth, It investigates musharakah management to recognise the obstacles and factors influencing decision making and aims to suggest possible remedies. In fulfilling its aim and objectives, this study utilised both primary and secondary data from Sudan. This study finds that banking staff prefer musharakah over other types of Islamic modes of finance. However, ш reality the Sudanese banks prefer musharakah over other types of Islamic modes of finance with a gradual shift towards musharakah. It is therefore argued that government pressure has been the major factor behind this shift towards more musharakah finance. The study also shows that significantly, the dominant type of musharakah is a short term one which lasts for 3 to 6 months. The results indicate the correlation between musharakah risk and the average age of musharakah. Hence, the major dilemmas facing the present Sudanese Islamic banks nowadays are the fact that these banks have to involve in long term finance according to its theory. The non-parametric test confirms that the perception about the performance for musharakah is high in both profitability and risk. However, the comparative financial performance of the Islamic financial methods found no difference in both risk and profitability. The credit policy and size of banks was found to be the most important factor influencing the distribution of bank funds among different types of finance. Lack of proper feasibility studies was found to be the main cause of non-performing musharakah finance. The lack of PLS modes of finance performance, because of managerial efficiency, can be considerable and may threaten the existence of Islamic banking, which is already facing strong competition. Significantly, lack of specialized departments were found to be the main cause of the weakness in the following up. The study finds that financial capability is the most important factor determining the capability of the entrepreneurs. Satisfaction with performance measurement systems was not high and not acceptable. Training provided to the employees is not enough and needs strengthening. There is a need for national policies specially designed and oriented towards SMEs as well as a policy to ending the current BOS financing policies hindering musharakah and BOS discriminatory regulations so as to encourage PLS finance. Based on the results, this study made a number of recommendations to manage and measure musharakah risk.