The prospects of Islamic banking in Southeast of Nigeria

Purpose: With the increasing presence of Islamic banking to Nigeria’s banking space and its relative success in the predominantly Muslim Northern region, the question of its prospect in the predominantly non-Muslim southeastern Nigeria becomes legitimate and urgent. Thus, the purpose of this study is to predict the prospect of Islamic banking in Southeast Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach: Three research questions were posed to address this objective. First, is there significant relationship between knowledge of Islamic banking concept and its prospects in Southeast Nigeria? Second, is there significant relationship between the relative advantage (principles) of Islamic banking concept and its prospects in Southeast Nigeria? Third, is there significant relationship between customers’ religion and prospects of Islamic banking concept in Southeast Nigeria? The study analyses using Pearson correlation, factor analysis with regression,t-test and ANOVA. Findings: Knowledge of Islamic banking and prospects of Islamic banking show weak positive relationship and very low mean. In other words, Islamic banking is not well-known; therefore, the prospects of Islamic banking slightly depend on knowledge about Islamic banking. Furthermore, the relationship between Islamic principles and prospects of Islamic banking shows only 5 per cent impact, which means that factors other than Islamic principle will drive the prospects of Islamic banking in Southeast Nigeria. Two factors loading from factor analysis are “profit sharing” and “forbid of some business activities”. Finally, profit sharing influences the prospects of Islamic banking, while prospects of Islamic banking will be impeded by customers’ religion. Research limitations/implications: The study was conducted in Southeast Nigeria which contains a small size of sample; the research adopted convenient sampling technique and a limited number of measures in the model. Nevertheless, the study provides new information about an emerging Islamic market. Originality/value: Most previous studies concentrated on product attributes of innovation adoption or patronage. But this current study inculcated the consumers' religion, as it affects the prospects of Islamic banking in Southeast Nigeria. .