Malawi

Active marketChecked 2026-11-14 · confidence medium

The Reserve Bank of Malawi's 2017 guidelines allow non-interest (Islamic) banking through windows of licensed banks. FDH Bank, on the Reserve Bank's list of registered banks, offers Mudaraba accounts and Murabaha financing on its own FDH Salama Banking page (checked 14 Nov 2026).

Five checks

Banking rulesFound

The Reserve Bank of Malawi issued 'Guidelines for Regulation and Supervision of Non-Interest (Islamic) Banking Products in Malawi' in August 2017 under the Banking Act 2010. They allow windows only: a conventional bank needs the Registrar's approval first, and may offer non-interest products only through a non-interest banking window.

  • “A bank shall only offer non-interest banking products through a non-interest banking window.”
    Reserve Bank of Malawi · 2017-08
  • “An existing licensed conventional bank which intends to conduct non-interest banking business shall seek the Registrar's approval prior to offering non-interest banking products.”
    Reserve Bank of Malawi · 2017-08
  • “Islamic Banking Guidelines 2017”
    Reserve Bank of Malawi · 2025-04-15
Licensed banks and windowsFound
  • “FDH BANK”
    Reserve Bank of Malawi
  • “This is a Shariah Compliant Deposit Account that does not attract interest (Riba).”
    FDH Bank plc
  • “FDH Bank becomes the first bank to introduce the banking facility in the country.”
    Nyasa Times · 2024-05-02 · secondary
  • “the need for significant investment in education and awareness of how Islamic Banking operates”
    Malawi Broadcasting Corporation · 2024-04-30 · secondary
  • Maravi Express · 2024-05-02 · secondary
Sukuk issuedNot checked
Takaful (non-interest insurance)Not checked

Not properly checked. Web searches found no takaful rule or takaful licence in Malawi, and listed Reserve Bank insurance directives do not mention takaful. Whether the newer insurance law addresses takaful was not checked.

Capital market rulesNot checked

Not properly checked. The Reserve Bank of Malawi also supervises capital markets; no Islamic capital market rule was seen in web searches, but its capital markets pages were not read.

Recent developments

  1. 2024-04-30FDH Bank launched FDH Salama Banking, a window it describes as Shari'ah compliant, starting with deposit accounts. Press reports name a Shari'ah Advisory Council chaired by Sheikh Ibrahim Lethome Asmani. source
  2. 2025-06-23Report that FDH planned to extend Salama banking from three branches (Limbe, Lilongwe City Centre, Mangochi) to all branches (press report). source

Still open

Points we could not confirm at source yet.

  • The Registrar's written approval of FDH's window was not seen in a primary source.
  • An undated Anadolu report says RBM drafted 'participation banking' guidelines; it appears to pre-date the 2017 guidelines.
  • Nation (Malawi) reported, undated, that RBM turned down an application for a standalone 'Islamic Bank of Malawi'.
  • Sukuk, takaful and capital market rules not properly checked.
Where we searched
  • Reserve Bank of Malawi (rbm.mw): bank supervision page and registered banks list (read 14 Nov 2026), Islamic Banking Guidelines 2017 file (read)
  • FDH Bank site (fdh.co.mw): the page is built by script, so a plain download shows no text. The site's own route list names /fdhbankplc/salama ('FDH Salama Banking'), and its page script for that route holds the product text (read 14 Nov 2026)
  • Secondary news: Nyasa Times and MBC (read), Maravi Express, Business Malawi, Nation (mwnation.com)
  • General web searches on Malawi takaful and sukuk