Strategies and factors of adoption of Islamic Finance products in North Africa: Exploratory study of Takaful in Morocco

Abstract

The consumption of Islamic finance products by African customers is little studied. This is why the operators of this finance are getting the African market in a cautious or even shy way. This is explained by the unpredictability of the reactions of African customers. It is in this context that this paper seeks to understand, on the one hand, the behavior of African customers regarding the adoption of Islamic finance products. On the other hand, it seeks to understand how Islamic finance operators react to this behavior.

Thus, we carried out an exploratory study with financial insurance operators, according to a qualitative approach by case study. We studied the consumption of a segment of Islamic Finance called "Takaful" in a country representative of the North African region, Morocco.

The results identified four factors influencing the adoption of Takaful products and help to understand the behavior of African customers, as well as two strategic dimensions promoting the adoption of Islamic finance products by its operators.

Keywords: Islamic finance, Takaful, adoption strategies, adoption behavior, insurance company, Morocco.

JEL Classification : E44, G10, G21, G22, Z12

Paper type : Empirical research