Zambia
The Bank of Zambia's Islamic Finance Guidelines were gazetted on 5 December 2014. One bank, ZICB, offers accounts it calls Islamic-based with no interest, but no Bank of Zambia approval for Islamic business was found, so we do not count it as an active market.
Five checks
Banking rulesFound
The Bank of Zambia issued Islamic Finance Guidelines after consultation from 2012 and gazetted them on 5 December 2014, according to its 2014 supervision report. Secondary copies give the reference as Gazette Notice No. 716 of 2014. A new Banking and Financial Services Act was enacted in 2026 (press report); how the 2014 guidelines sit under it was not confirmed.
- “The guidelines were gazzeted on 5 December 2014 and are available on the BoZ website”
Bank of Zambia · 2014 - regalert.today (aggregator; fetch returned HTTP 429) · 2014-12-05 · secondary
Licensed banks and windowsNot checked
- Zambia Industrial Commercial Bank Limited (ZICB): conventional bank offering accounts it calls Islamic-based; no Bank of Zambia Islamic approval found · otherIslamic-based Current Account - IndividualIslamic Based Corporate Account
- “It is based on Islamic principles, particularly regarding interest.”
Zambia Industrial Commercial Bank - “This is an operating account designed for businesses that are governed by principles of the Islamic faith.”
Zambia Industrial Commercial Bank - “Islamic Based Personal Account”
Zambia Industrial Commercial Bank · 2025-08-15 - “Zambia Industrial Commercial Bank Limited”
Bank of Zambia · 2024 - Bank of Zambia
Sukuk issuedNot checked
- The Citizen (Tanzania) · 2023 · secondary
Takaful (non-interest insurance)Not checked
Not properly checked. No takaful rule or takaful operator was found in web searches, and the Pensions and Insurance Authority site did not appear in domain searches. A 2014 Times of Zambia column said takaful had been introduced in Zambia; this was not confirmed.
Capital market rulesNot checked
No Islamic capital market rule was found. The Securities and Exchange Commission's rules, directives and Acts pages were read on 14 Nov 2026 and do not mention Islamic finance, sukuk or Shari'ah. Search results show a May 2025 SEC draft on risk management that mentions portfolios built on Islamic principles as an investor preference only (draft not read). The Lusaka Securities Exchange was not checked.
Recent developments
- 2025-08-15ZICB's 2025 tariff guide (posted Oct 2025) lists Islamic Based Personal and Corporate Accounts in several currencies. source
- 2026Banking and Financial Services Act 2026 enacted, replacing the earlier banking law (press report). Its effect on the 2014 Islamic Finance Guidelines is not confirmed. source
Still open
Points we could not confirm at source yet.
- ZICB describes its accounts as based on Islamic principles 'particularly regarding interest'. No Shari'ah adviser, Shari'ah board or Bank of Zambia window approval was found. Is this a formal window under the 2014 guidelines?
- Confirm ZICB on the Bank of Zambia's current registered institutions list (the page builds its list by script).
- Status of the 2014 Islamic Finance Guidelines under the Banking and Financial Services Act 2026.
- Whether the Mayzuh sukuk-financed projects reported in 2023 led to any SEC approval or issue.
- Takaful at the Pensions and Insurance Authority (not reached).
Where we searched
- Bank of Zambia (boz.zm): 2014 Financial System Supervision report (read), 2024 Financial System Supervision report (read; no 'Islamic' or 'sukuk'). The registered institutions page is a script-built page; one page of its data feed was read (A to B names only); further paging was not done in this review
- ZICB own site: individual and business account pages and 2025 tariff guide (read)
- Securities and Exchange Commission of Zambia: rules, directives and Securities Act pages (read; no Islamic terms); domain-restricted web search
- Pensions and Insurance Authority: domain-restricted web search returned no PIA pages; site not read
- Parliament of Zambia brief on the Banking and Financial Services Bill 2025: fetch failed (certificate error, not bypassed)
- regalert.today copy of the 2014 guidelines: HTTP 429
- General web searches on Zambia Islamic banking, sukuk and takaful