Kenya wants to become tourism and banking hub for Muslims

The majority Christian nation Kenya wants to become a hub for Islamic tourism, banking and other services, experts said yesterday at an East African Islamic Economy Summit held in Nairobi.The meeting attended by bankers, investors and other experts was organised by the private sector to explore how the region can best target a market of 1.6bn Muslims worldwide by offering goods and services in line with Islamic principles.The Islamic economy encompasses not only a food industry with dietary requirements, but also sectors such as tourism, banking, insurance and capital markets.Kenyan tourism official Najib Balala said the Tourism Ministry planned to publish guidelines for hotels and lodges that would seek to comply with Shariah in order to attract Muslim travellers, whose spending is expected to reach $230bn in 2020 worldwide.Kenya has also created a team of experts to identify policies that would make the country’s capital markets compliant with Shariah banking laws, said Paul Muthaura, chief executive of Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority.Some participants at the meeting, however, warned that catering to the Muslim market also implied challenges.“It is very difficult to develop concepts that are acceptable to the governments in countries with liberal populations such as Italy,” said Anna Maria Tiozzo, president of the Italian organization World Halal Development.Tiozzo said her organization needed 10 years to push through the certification of halal food products, with governments wary of being seen as favouring any particular religion.Hotels could meanwhile face complaints of segregation or invasion of privacy if they requested that Muslim couples must be married,experts said.Chris Nader from Shaza Hotels, based in the United Arab Emirates, said his company had difficulties securing financing from Shariah-compliant investors who did not want non-married couples to stay at hotels.More than 80% of Kenyans are Christians, while Muslims make up nearly 12%.