Determinants of the adoption of Islamic Finance by Cameroonian SMEs: case study from a psycho-sociological characteristics of Managers

What determines the adoption of Islamic finance products in a non-Islamic country? Empirical evidence from Cameroonian small- and medium-sized enterprises

“…The possibility is that social pressure or pressure from peers, friends and family will tend to discourage adoption by entrepreneurs. These results are in line with those of previous studies such as that of Gonne and Mohamadou (2022) in the same Cameroonian context.…”

“…Some studies have been conducted in non-Muslim jurisdictions as well. In Cameroon, Gonne and Mohamadou (2022) revealed that the degree of adherence to the Sharia precepts, subjective norms, and the perceived relative advantage influence the decision to adopt Islamic finance by Cameroonian SMEs. In a Ghanaian study, Mbawuni and Nimako (2017) showed that consumer attitude, readiness to comply with Sharia law, knowledge, perceived innovativeness, and perceived benefits were critical determinants of bank customers’ intention to adopt Islamic banks in both Muslim and non-Muslim subgroups, perceived religion effect and perceived threat of violence were considered the least influential factors.…”

“…In Africa, Islamic finance represents only 1.5% of the global market. The Central African economic and monetary community zone in general and Cameroon, in particular, are contributing to the downward trend of Islamic finance in African economies, despite the advantages it has over the conventional system (Gonne and Mohamadou, 2022). In the case of Cameroon, Ngaha and Binam (2019) have even shown that Cameroonian economic agents in general are reluctant to adopt Islamic finance for reasons such as the fear of being Islamized.…”

“…However, a plethora of empirical studies have been carried out in Muslim-dominated jurisdictions (Sudarsono et al , 2022; Al Balushi et al , 2019; Mahdzan et al , 2017; Ayyub et al , 2020; El Mallouli and Sassi, 2022; Shome et al , 2018) as well as in non-Muslim dominated jurisdictions (Kaakeh et al , 2018; Gerrard and Cunningham, 1997; Mbawuni and Nimako, 2017; Bananuka et al , 2019; Guyo and Adan, 2013; Su’un, 2018) underlying the role of factors such as religion, awareness and subjective norms when it comes to the decision to patronize Islamic finance. In Cameroon where Islamic finance is now part of the national financial inclusion policy, some studies have been carried out as well explaining, on the one hand, the reasons why Cameroonian businesses are reluctant to adopt Islamic finance (Ngaha and Binam, 2019) and the determinants of the decision to patronize Islamic finance by Cameroonian SMEs (Gonne and Mohamadou, 2022) on the other hand.…”