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This paper aims to discuss the evolution of the Egyptian banking sector and the main trends in financial development in Egypt. The purpose of this study is to examine empirically the relationship between the development of the financial sector and economic growth in Egypt between 1980 and 2016.

The paper draws comparisons based on critical financial indicators between Egypt and selected emerging markets and developing economies. It uses a new data set of financial development indexes released by the International Monetary Fund. This paper uses econometric time series modelling of bivariate regressions for real growth per capita and measures of financial development to assess the relationship between financial development and economic growth in Egypt.

There are three specific findings based on the empirical analysis. First, there is a strong association between real growth per capita and financial development measured by money supply to GDP. Second, access to and the efficiency of banking services are not associated with real per capita income. Third, the Financial Markets Access Index – which compiles data on market capitalization outside of the top ten largest companies and the number of corporate issuers of debt – indicates a robust association with real per capita GDP.

The paper uses advanced empirical investigation techniques and new data sets available to assess the critical relationship between finance and growth in Egypt. The main policy implications of the empirical results of this paper suggest a stronger focus on promoting a more proactive role for the financial services industry in Egypt. In particular, there is a critical role for bank financing to support the private sector to maintain an inclusive growth momentum. Further development of the capital market will promote sustainability of such economic growth.

This study aims to compare the nexus between donations to Islamic and conventional microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their credit risk, financial performance and social outreach.

The authors use fixed effects and two-step system generalized methods of moments models with internal instrumentation. The analysis is conducted on an international sample of 1,519 MFIs in 55 countries during 1999–2019.

Islamic MFIs receiving greater donations experience an increase in credit risk, whereas the opposite occurs among their conventional counterparts. Donations are associated with an improvement in the depth of outreach of Islamic MFIs, allowing them to serve a poorer client base, despite a simultaneous decline in the breadth of their outreach. On the other hand, donations improve both the depth and breadth of conventional MFIs outreach. Donations also exhibit a positive relation with productivity, efficiency and sustainability in conventional MFIs.

This paper addresses a gap in the literature on Islamic MFIs and their use of donor funds by examining how donations contribute to the quality of their credit portfolios, financial performance and social outreach. This study used Ahmed’s (2012, 2017, 2020, 2021) total factor productivity model to capture the impact of donations on the performance of MFIs.

Donations are found to contribute to positive financial inclusion outcomes for both Islamic and conventional MFIs, a promising implication for society and donors alike.

This paper addresses a gap in the academic literature on Islamic MFIs and their use of donor funds by examining how donations contribute to the quality of their credit portfolios, financial performance and social outreach.

SMEs that manage more sustainability focused initiatives into their core business strategy can possibly benefit from lower expenses, reduced threats and new business opportunities, but in Malaysia most of the SMEs are still far off in terms of adapting to a sustainable business growth outline from a holistic point of view. Hence, this study aims to serve deeper understanding about a strategic innovation focused sustainable growth model on basis of multidisciplinary QBL-QHIM theoretical perspectives where strategic innovation practices intervene in between desired growth and government support (regulations).

This conceptual investigation embraces a newly emerged concern of sustainable business growth in SMEs, considering ranges of literature reviews from the disciplines of management and entrepreneurship. The study also systematically explores the concepts of regulations, strategic innovation practices on basis of QBL and QHIM theories to adjust the sustainable business growth model from a holistic angle.

The outcomes show that multidisciplinary QBL-QHIM conjunction within the interrelationships of the selected constructs holds the potential for innovation focused business growth in a more sustainable, comprehensive and holistic manner. The study also detects that exploitative-explorative innovation practices can possibly mediate in between suitable regulations and sustainable business growth of SMEs, considering supportive external environment.

Researches are encouraged to test the proposed model.

The study indicates a conceptual configuration for policy makers as well as entrepreneurs to ensure sustainable business growth for SMEs. The outcomes of the study also provide useful direction on decision-making process of owner or manager considering social, economic, environmental and spiritual aspects of daily operations.

The conceptual model may possibly able to generate more social values, considering a holistic angle into business activities.

The conceptualization is a unique attempt, considering developing regions to extend the current understanding of strategic innovation focused sustainable growth process of SMEs from a holistic angle.

This paper is motivated by the heated debates preceding the introduction of additional regulatory requirements of Basel III on capital conservation buffer (CCB) and regulatory leverage (RLEV) in banks of emerging markets. The paper aims to examine which policy ratio can improve bank efficiency (BE), in one of the most resilient banking settings in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

The analysis is performed on a sample of 13 banks for the period 2010–2018 in Egypt and proceeds in two steps. In the first step, the data envelopment analysis model is used to derive bank-specific efficiency scores. In the second step, BE scores are regressed on the two types of regulatory capital and a set of control variables.

The paper is motivated by regulatory debates on the viability of RLEV and CCB in enhancing BE. The results show that higher RLEV and CCB are associated with a reduction in BE and that RLEV is highly associated with BE compared to CCB. Hence, results are relevant to policymakers in designing measures for improving BE in emerging markets.

The findings contribute to a small but growing stream of research on capital adequacy in emerging markets. This study provides results on the viability of risk-based vs non-risk-based capital requirements. The findings are also relevant to bank regulators in similar emerging market settings in their efforts to introduce and phase in minimum leverage requirements according to Basel III.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the nexus between financial inclusion and human development for countries belonging to different income groups during 2009–2019, and whether this relation differs across these groups.

The paper constructs an index of financial inclusion (IFI) for different income group countries employing dynamic panel data models estimated by generalized method of moments (GMM) to analyse the relation between financial inclusion and human development.

Financial inclusion in low and lower-middle-income countries has higher effect on human development than in high and upper-middle income countries.

The study examines the effect of IFI on the human development index (HDI) at the aggregate level. Future research can tackle the IFI effect on every component of HDI and other aspects of financial inclusion could be incorporated like financial technology.

The originality lies in constructing an index for financial inclusion using the most recent data for a wide range of countries, in addition to examining the impact of financial inclusion on the human development levels of different income groups allowing for more accurate analysis tackling the differences in terms of adopted policies across various income groups; unlike other studies that are carried out on a one country basis or only across one or two country groups that do not allow for comparison across various groups of countries.

This study assesses the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on the relative efficiency of conventional and Islamic Egyptian banks in the period 2012–2018.

A three-stage approach is adopted. First, data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to assess the relative efficiency of Egyptian banks. Second, a CSR index is designed and used to assess the extent of aggregate CSR practices in Egyptian banks, together with their sub-dimensions. Third, a Tobit regression model is used to examine the impact of CSR on the technical efficiency of these banks.

There is no statistically significant difference between conventional and Islamic banks as regards their purely technical efficiency. Egyptian banks, on average, have achieved a medium score in their practices of CSR and conventional and Islamic banks have not shown significant differences, except in 2018. Moreover, the aggregate CSR practices positively affect the technical efficiency of Egyptian banks. The practices of the CSR sub-dimensions, apart from the community sub-dimension, also affect the banks' technical efficiency.

The legislative institutions and the Central Bank should enhance CSR practices in Egyptian banks, particularly the practices related to customers and the community, in order to enhance the purely technical efficiency of these banks.

The paper is original in investigating the impact of CSR on banks' relative efficiency in Egypt.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a waqf-based microfinance program on clients’ well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study obtained primary data from a survey distributed to 282 respondents, consisting of 150 clients and 132 nonclients of the Bank Wakaf Mikro (BWM) Al Kausar in Indonesia. This study constructed a well-being index (WBI) and compared clients’ and nonclients’ WBI before and during the pandemic using the difference-in-differences (DID) method. DID measures the effect of a treatment in a “treatment group” versus a “control group” using data from two periods.

This study found that clients and nonclients alike experienced an increase in well-being throughout the pandemic, but the increase was greater for clients than for nonclients. This study argues that the waqf-based microfinance program run by Bank Waqf Mikro model can assist their clients – as more vulnerable groups in society – to maintain their well-being during the pandemic.

To ensure the effectiveness of waqf-based microfinance programs in diverse settings, this study should include more respondents from different institutions.

This research has several practical recommendations, particularly for integrating Islamic charity for microfinance. The findings of this study suggest that the BWM model, which combines three institutions – the government, zakat groups and Islamic boarding schools (pesantrens) – can play a substantial role in enhancing the welfare of its members during the pandemic.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge on Islamic microfinance by providing empirical evidence of the importance of waqf-based microfinance in reducing the pandemic’s impact on clients well-being.

This study aims to investigate the role of Islamic finance in supporting sustainable economic growth, innovation and digital transformation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Amid global challenges like the Russia–Ukraine conflict and COVID-19, the focus extends beyond the GCC’s oil dependency to explore how Islamic finance can enable technological advancements and foster a digitally innovative economy. The research aims to reveal the potential of Islamic finance in driving economic diversification, technological progress and sustainable development in the GCC.

Using a content analysis approach, this study critically examines the economic repercussions of recent global crises, shedding light on how Islamic finance contributes to socio-economic justice and the provision of social goods in the GCC. The research synthesises findings from various secondary sources, including academic literature, reports and industry standards, to analyse Islamic finance’s role from an ethical and strategic perspective within the GCC’s evolving economic landscape.

The findings reveal Islamic finance’s potential to significantly contribute to the GCC’s economic diversification and resilience against global economic downturns. The study highlights how Islamic finance aligns with the sustainable development goals and its effectiveness in promoting ethical financial practices and socio-economic justice.

Future research should focus on global comparative studies to understand Islamic finance’s impact on sustainable development beyond the GCC. Longitudinal studies are also essential to assess the long-term effects of Islamic financial instruments on economic stability.

The research advocates for incorporating Islamic finance principles into the GCC’s economic strategies, emphasising its role in providing resilient and ethical financial alternatives conducive to sustainable development. It underscores the need for policy initiatives integrating Islamic finance to bolster socio-economic welfare and environmental sustainability.

Offering a novel perspective, this paper enriches the discourse on the contribution of Islamic finance to sustainable economic development. It presents critical insights into how Islamic finance can underpin long-term economic resilience and growth in the GCC. It provides valuable implications for academia and policymaking, particularly in emerging economies’ science and technology policy management.

Achieving the goals of the sustainable development strategy and Egypt’s vision 2030 depends mainly on the existence of sources of funds. And since Egypt faces a great challenge in obtaining finance, then analyzing the drivers of financial development is a vital issue and there is a persistent need to shed light on the key obstacles for it. Thus, this paper aims to empirically assess the impact of natural resources, foreign direct investment (FDI) net inflows, education and clean energy sources on financial development in Egypt using the data of the 1971–2014 period.

The paper uses auto-regressive distributed lag and Toda-Yamomoto approaches to fulfill the purpose.

Empirical results signify that all variables except natural endowments stimulate financial development which can suggest the presence of the natural resources curse in Egypt. Moreover, the feedback effect between financial development and FDI is recognized. Clean energy sources cause financial development and natural endowments. Financial development causes natural endowments and FDI leads to the deployment of more clean energy resources.

Several crucial policy implications are suggested based upon these results as improving the quality and quantity of education and encouraging both domestic and foreign investors by providing several incentives. Moreover, the government has to enhance green finance through financing solar energy projects and other environmentally friendly projects.

It is the first research for Egypt that explores natural resource-financial development nexus using time series analysis according to our information, and two important variables are included in the model which is clean energy sources and FDI. Then, although several studies examined the impact of financial development on clean energy no empirical study before assessed the impact of clean energy on financial development.

The purpose of this study is to provide a critical review on how the Khazanah’s Sukuk Ihsan was structured in compliance with the requirements for issuance of Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) sukuk set by the Securities Commission (SC) Malaysia.

To explain the structures and features of the Sukuk Ihsan, this study extracted important information from the sukuk’s Principle Terms and Conditions and Information Memorandum and presented them in a simple and easy-to-understand way. Next, this study refers to Part D: Requirement for Issuance, Offering or Invitation to Subscribe or Purchase Sustainable and Responsible Investment Sukuk of the SC’s Guidelines on Sukuk (revised edition: 28 August 2014) to assess the compliance of the sukuk in terms of eligibility of SRI sukuk issuer and SRI projects, use of proceeds, reporting and disclosure and independent assessment on SRI programmes. In addition, this study then compares the requirements stated in the SC’s SRI Sukuk Framework with the International Capital Market Association’s Green Bond Principles (GBP) and the USA’s Social Impact Bond (SIB) Act 2014.

The present study finds that the definition of eligible SRI sukuk issuer in the Guidelines on Sukuk seems to be more stringent compared to the one provided in the GBP and the US’ SIB Act. Nevertheless, the SRI Sukuk Framework provides a more comprehensive yet precise list of eligible SRI projects, covering both environmental and social aspects, compared to the GBP (which only focuses on broad categories of environmental projects) and also the USA’s SIB Act (explicitly outlines 13 social projects which are aligned with the US Federal Government’s agenda in tackling social illnesses). Indeed, the main difference between the eligible SRI sukuk projects and its conventional counterparts lies in its compliance to Shariah principles. It is also observed that a significant emphasis has been given on SRI legislations in ensuring proper reporting and disclosure provided to the SRI sukuk stakeholders together with critical evaluation on the impacts of SRI programmes provided by an independent assessor.

This paper contributes towards enriching the literature on the Islamic capital market, particularly on the integration between sukuk and social impacts investing. This paper was intended to highlight the important requirements in issuing SRI sukuk to various stakeholders of the Islamic capital market.

The authors hope to shed some lights on the unique features and structural applications of SRI sukuk and its importance in becoming an effective instrument to raise funds for social agenda of a country by providing a real and practical example.