1. 41
EDUCATION
www.cpifinancial.net ISSUE 78 | Islamic Business & Finance
W
e live in an age of
specialisation, where
human resources
can capitalise on the
opportunities created by the demand
and supply of skilled professionals.
Islamic finance practitioners,
academia and training industry in
Pakistan are very well positioned to
make the most out of it.
Higher education institutions,
being one of the major producers of
human resources to Islamic financial
institutions (IFIs), ought to train,
create awareness and provide career
orientation to their graduates to exploit
careers in IFIs locally as well as globally.
As a qualified and experienced
Islamic banker, I have attempted to
envisage the state of the local and
international Islamic banking industry,
including growth dynamics, human
resourcing requirements, functional
roles and the challenges ahead for
the Islamic banking industry. In this
article, I have tried to map out skill
requirementsand theunderlyingcareer
opportunities for potential employees
and young graduates, and employers in
Pakistan as well as in the GCC.
INDUSTRY AT HOME
Pakistan’s Islamic banking industry
surfaced in 2001 and claims to be a PKR
711.00 billion (approx $7.00 billion)
industry comprising five indigenous
banks and 12 Islamic windows with a
branch network of 964 branches, 500
windows and a nationwide presence.
Pakistan’s nascent industry has a
YoY growth rate of 30 per cent. This
growth has been galvanised by optimal
profitability with Return On Equity of
15 per cent.
GROWING DEMAND
Reportedly, bankers, economists
and investors are moving towards
an Islamic economic system because
they have realised that this emerging
system can be an alternative after a
capitalist system has harmed so many.
Moreover, S&P highlights a
dazzling growth potential for Islamic
banking, thanks to a young, fast-
growing Muslim population, robust
macroeconomic environments, large
infrastructure projects that require
financing, formation of Shari’ah-
compliant indices for companies listed
in stock markets and recent political
developments in several Muslim-
majority countries.
In 2008, the State Bank of
Pakistan (SBP) in its five-year strategic
plan, stressed the importance of
strengthening human resources to
eventually strengthen Islamic banking.
Muhammad ArsalanAqeeq takes Pakistan as a case study for
developing an education system that would provide the Islamic
finance industry with the skills it so desperately needs
Career opportunities
Muhammad ArsalanAqeeq
cont. overleaf

2. 42
EDUCATION
www.cpifinancial.netIslamic Business & Finance | ISSUE 78
cont. from pg41
As with all developing sectors, the
Islamic Banking Industry (IBI) also
suffers from a lack of candidates
specifically trained in Islamic banking.
Conservative estimates based on
the methodology adapted by SBP
strategic plan 2008-2012 project that
the industry will need 22,000 qualified
personnel by 2017, as compared to the
15,000 currently available. Based on
international best practices the 22,000
employees needed by 2017 translates to
one per cent, or 200 senior managers,
15 per cent or 3000 mid-level managers
and 84 per cent or 16,800 front line or
field staff. This defines the capacity
needed for developing the different
levels of human resources.
In order to meet the specific
requirements of the industry that focus
on relevant areas at multiple levels,
there is a need to have a specialised
institution in the country that caters to
specific industry requirements and is
structured to provide focus in specific
areas. Higher education institutions
andbusinessschoolsneedtorealiseand
tap the potential of the Islamic finance
industry and its appetite for qualified
Islamic bankers. Higher education
institutions are expected to roll-out
internationally accredited academic
and professional qualifications and
programmes to facilitate the industry
in developing the human resources
which it needs to be sustainable.
HELP NEEDED
Candidates need to be well-versed
in conventional banking practices as
well as Islamic banking and must be
able to understand and communicate
the difference between the two. Given
that there is a religious background
to Islamic banking there exists a need
to understand the basic principles
of Islam in relation to financial
transactions. The requirement
for better-qualified personnel has
increased particularly in Product
Development, Risk Management,
and Shari’ah compliance.
Staff level distribution as per international standards*
Additional Staff Required by 2017 22000
Senior Manager 1% 220
Mid-level managers 15% 3300
Front line Field staff 84% 18480
Projected
Growth %
Estimated Human Resource
Requirement Projections
Human
Resource[Avg.
Head Count 15/
branch]Year Assets Rs inBn Branches
20 2012 712 1,000 15,000
20 2013 855 1,772 18,000
20 2014 1,026 1,440 21,600
20 2015 1,231 1,728 25,920
20 2016 1,477 2,074 31,104
20 2017 1,772 2,488 37,325
Relationship/Branch
Managers
Front office professional, General banking & relationship management skills along with
thorough shariah product knowledge.
Islamic Corporate/
Investment Bankers
Front office personnels, Corporate lending, credit risk & shariah facility structuring.
Shariah Product
Development
Specialist function with sound knowledge of Islamic commercial law, product
development and banking operations.
Shariah Compliance
Auditor/ Officer
Exclusive Islamic Banking requiring Shariah Product and processflow knowledge for
shariah governance and control.
Risk Managers
Risk management knowledge for market, credit and operational risk in addition to
shariah related facility risk and shariah compliance.
Trade Finance
Manager
Trade finance , International Codes, UCP along with shariah modalities and transaction
process flows requirements.
Operations Manager General banking operation knowledge with knowledge of shariah accounting treatments
and flows
Treasury Manager
Treasury, FX, Market Risk, Asset Liability Management with shariah compliant
invesments & liquidity management expertise.
Islamic Equity &
Mutual Fund Manager
Portfolio management, asset risk profiling, fixed and equity markets along shariah
screening and compliant investments.
Takaful Manager
Acturial underwriting, risk profiling, premium and portfolio management along with
shariah contractual arrangement and shariah investments.
Shariah Advisor
The centripetal body holding the riegns of shariah governance, control and compl.
Authority and Subject matter expert on Shariah, Fiqa, Islamic Commercial Law
SITUATIONS VACANT IN ISLAMIC FINANCE

3. 43
EDUCATION
www.cpifinancial.net ISSUE 78 | Islamic Business & Finance
Muhammad ArsalanAqeeq is an experienced Islamic banker from Pakistan. He
holds a Diploma in Islamic Finance from CIMA and has experience in corporate lending,
syndication finance, project finance, credit risk review, cash flow analysis, financial
modelling and credit origination functions for conventional and Islamic banking
institutions. He is an independent corporate trainer and research supervisor in premier
academic organisations like the Institute of Bankers Pakistan, Karachi Institute of
Economics and Technology and the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and
Technology. He may be contacted at: arswasti@yahoo.com
Candidates need
to be well-versed
in conventional
banking practices
as well as Islamic
banking and
must be able to
understand and
communicate
the difference
between the two
Islamic banks’ personnel must be
proficient in conventional banking
operations and product structuring
and they should be able to explain
to customers the differences between
Islamic and conventional product
structures. Consequently, the demand
for Islamic banking and finance
education and training has increased
and the number of institutions
providing higher education and
training for Islamic banking and
finance is also increasing.
THE REAL CHALLENGE
The human resources produced by
conventional academic programmes
cannot meet the demands and skills
set of the Islamic financial institutions,
which require highly-competent and
motivated candidates with required
knowledge of conventional banking
as well as knowledge of Islamic
economic principles.
Being a nascent industry with 11
years of history, existing conventional
finance professionals need to be
trained to shrink the shortage of
experienced professionals.
The shortage of skilled
professionals is graded as the one of
the key impediments to the growth
of the Islamic finance industry locally
in Pakistan, where Islamic finance
has an eight per cent penetration
rate, as well as globally, which
can only be addressed by higher
education institutes.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
In the terse words of the Governor of
Bank Negara Malaysia Dr. Zeti Akhtar
Aziz, ‘‘Islamic banking and finance is a
‘mirror of the sea’ for until and unless
wehavethecouragetoexploreitsdepth,
we would never be able to uncover the
treasures that reside within.’’
Apposite education is the key
enabler towards the exploration
of the treasures of this sea. State
Bank of Pakistan- NIBAF Program,
International Islamic University
Islamabad, Daar-ul-Uloom Karachi,
MBA in Islamic Finance Muhammad
Ali Jinnah University, ShaikhZayed
Institute University of Karachi
are a few big names engaged in
Islamic finance programmes. But,
its adequacy to meet the estimated
demand of over 20,000 personnel in
the upcoming five years remains a
moot point. Moreover, accreditation
and recognition of these programmes
from bodies like AAOIFI, INCIEF,
ISRA, IFSB etc. also call for more
focused efforts.
WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES
Being a specialty domain, there are
good prospects for skilled youths to
export their expertise to GCC and
MENA countries, Malaysia, Oman
and even to emerging western
markets like Australia.
India, one of the biggest exporters
of humanresourcestotheGCC,doesn’t
have a local Islamic finance industry
and thus leaves Pakistan the sole
regional provider of human resource,
making competition irrelevant.
Islamic finance qualifications and
academic programmes also attract
Islamic studies and Fiqh students to
mainstreamemploymentopportunities
by training them on modern Islamic
banking and finance skills.
A career in Islamic finance covers
a variety of human resource profiles
and backgrounds to serve functions like
Shari’ah compliance auditor, product
development, Shari’ah advisors, fund
managers, operations manager, Islamic
treasurers, business managers and
Takaful portfolio managers.
Currently, there is a skill-to-
employment gap prevailing in the
Islamic banking and finance industry
in Pakistan. Higher education
providers must also come up with
standardised and internationally
accreditedprogrammesandinitiatives
to serve the emerging demands of the
global Islamic finance industry.