UK: The next generation
I had the pleasure last week to speak to Year 12s (end of their first year of English A Levels or 16–17 yo) at King Solomon’s Academy (KSA) in London as part of an “outreach” program run by the Worship Company of International Bankers.
The purpose of the program is to bridge the enormous gap between the City of London and state schools in and around London. Demystifying, perhaps, what it takes for young people to have the possibility of accessing opportunities (either apprenticeships, internships or jobs) in the City is amazingly so far outside of the aspirations of many state school kids that those of us in the City cannot comprehend.
KSA is just off the Edgware Road and is characterized by a predominantly Muslim student population; the cohort I spoke to was 80% Muslims. My chat with them (which was face to face, yes, really) was as much about differing career paths in to a finance career but about Islamic finance particularly.
It should not come as a surprise but of the 22 kids, only one of them banked with a Shariah compliant bank in the UK. This compared to more than half of them eating only Halal. For at least 20 minutes we had a fundamental discussion about the basics of Islamic finance and where there were opportunities and challenges in providing products to themselves and their families.
The gap between the aspirations of the City to be a centre for Islamic finance and the actual availability of products (and awareness of what Islamic finance is) is substantial. In a number of IFN roadshows in the past year, public awareness of Islamic finance products was discussed in emerging markets (or new markets for Islamic finance).
The challenge exists in the UK too. As many fintechs like to start their pitches with, there is an addressable market of nearly 2 billion Muslims and if they can capture x% of this market, their business will be worth a lot (my apologies for oversimplifying but to make a point).
Reaching this market in developed countries where everyone has access to the web at their fingertips does not easily translate in to market share. Fundamental awareness of even the existence of Islamic finance products in the mass market is obviously still a challenge to overcome in the UK (and no doubt elsewhere).
Two subjects dominated our discussion, once we had established some basic principles; crypto-currency and finance for education. The Shariah-compliance of crypto-currency is an area of keen debate given that the public fascination with the volatility of the currencies naturally appeals to the digitally savvy generation.
Paying for university and equal access to funding for education (which has been discussed previously) will need a combination of government intervention and strong commercial backing otherwise there is a risk of exacerbating the view that education is only for the privileged.
Bright minds need nurturing and encouragement and my experience cannot be unique. Availability of products and the knowledge around how these can fit in to the next generation’s beliefs is fundamentally important but will take work; that being said the growth of Islamic finance in virtually every country depends on the next generation.
For further information contact:
Dr Scott Levy, CEO of Bedford Row Capital
slevy@bedfordrowcapital.com
This article was first published in IFN Volume 18 Issue 31 dated the 29th July 2021.
