Purpose - This paper examines the mediating effect of positive attitude (ATT) and subjective norm (SJN) on customers’ behavioral intention to participate in Islamic banking in Nigeria using the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) as a basis.Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire with 274 samples. This study used the convenience sampling technique.Findings – The authors found a positive and significant relationship between the factors in the model. The findings highlight the relevance of attitude in the structural model. The findings further show that attitude has a positive effect in mediating the relationship between awareness, knowledge, religion and the behavioural intention of customers.Originality/value - This paper highlights the need for policymakers, regulators and Islamic banking operators to create proper awareness through effective communication with customers on the benefits of Islamic banking and the provision of a platform for knowledge enhancement to promote a positive attitude among the different segments of society and which in turn can influence their intention to participate in Islamic banking.

No abstract

Sub-Sahara African (SSA) region as a large part of the African continent suffers huge infrastructure deficit mainly as a result of the vast funding gap. The negative impact of the infrastructure deficiency continues to constrain socio-economic development and the general well-being of the people of the region. Heavy reliance on the traditional sources of funding by many of the countries in the region has failed to meet ever-growing demands for infrastructural development of the region. Potentials presented by Islamic finance are yet to be exploited by a large number of countries in the region. This study evaluates the depth of utilisation of Islamic capital market using Sukuk instruments as another source of funding to fill the observed funding gap for infrastructure development. This study finds that the use of Sukuk as a long-term financing instrument is still at its infancy stage in the region. The paper, therefore, suggests that the SSA countries can undertake rapid and massive infrastructure developments in the region through the use of Sukuk instruments, thereby eliminating increasing sovereign debt over-hang from the conventional debt market. This study also recommends that policy makers in the region put in place required laws and regulations that will provide enabling environments for effective utilisation of Sukuk instruments for infrastructural development. Similarly, strong political will on the part of the region’s political leaders is essential in nurturing strong institutions that can engender policy continuity to ensure effective and efficient management of infrastructure projects funded by Sukuk instruments.

This paper aims to assess good governance and development nexus based on the Theory of Maqāsid al Sharī’ah (TMS). The central hypothesis of the paper is that good governance; with a specific focus on human rights and social justice has a significant relationship with human development including factors like education, health, and income all emerging from of the essentials of Sharī’ah. The paper employed survey questionnaire to collect data from 384 respondents comprising Muslims in South-western Nigeria. A stratified random sampling technique was used. The findings show that TMS is effective in predicting the direction of relationship between good governance and human development. The findings further show that the model is invariant across gender groups. This paper highlights the applicability of the constructs of TMS model into human development research. It also recommends strategic policy direction for the policymakers. Keywords: Deprivation, gender invariance, well-being, Maqāsid al Sharī’ah

This study investigates the perception of the relationship between interest-free financing contracts of Islamic banking as an incentive to provide voluntary information disclosure among entrepreneurs in Nigeria thereby reducing the incidence of information asymmetry. Questionnaires were used as an instrument of data collection. Multivariate Logistic Regression Model was employed to estimate the model. The result showed a positive and significant relationship between the incentive of interest-free financing contracts and motivation to give voluntary information disclosure, thereby minimizing the incidence of asymmetric information. Similarly, the finding also indicates that level of education, understanding and awareness of the procedures of obtaining credit facilities from banks (both conventional and non-interest banks) has a significant relationship with the entrepreneurs’ motivation to give voluntary information disclosure to the banks concerning the financing contracts obtained from Islamic banks. However, the religious belief of the entrepreneurs did not indicate a significant relationship with their decisions to have a banking relationship with Islamic banks but was largely motivated by economic factors and business decisions in their relationship with the banks and their motivation to give voluntary information disclosure. This study, unlike most previous studies on Islamic banking in Nigeria, investigates the perception of entrepreneurs of the relationship between the incentive of interest-free financing contracts and motivation to volunteer greater information. The policymakers can, therefore, leverage the positive perception of entrepreneurs of the incentive of interest-free financing, to reduce information asymmetry in Islamic banking, and promote the establishment of more Islamic banks through appropriate legislations and regulations that can ensure enabling operating environment. This would, in turn, promote financial inclusion and reduce the widening funding gap experienced by small and medium enterprises in the country.