Strategies Adopted by Islamic Banks to Increase Their Profits in Kenya

Abstract

The Islamic banks in Kenya continue to face stiff competition in the industry. This has necessitated these banks to design and adopt strategies that can contribute to their performance and profit increment. Despite this, Kenya’s Islamic banks have recorded low market share rate as linked to conventional banks. These banks have recorded a declining trend in terms of profits where First Community Bank(FCB) total net gain plunged into almost half and Gulf African Bank(GAB) slowed their growth. It is therefore, against this backdrop that this study arose to examine the strategies adopted by Islamic banks to increase their profits in Kenya. The investigation embraced a comparative case study approach to provide an insight understanding of strategies adopted by Islamic banks to increase their profits in Kenya. The study covered two Sharia Compliant Banks in Kenya namely Gulf African Bank (GAB) and First Community Bank (FCB). The researcher interviewed one (1) middle and (1) top management staff in Nairobi of the two Sharia Compliant Banks. From the analysis of the findings, it was concluded that most Islamic banks embraced cost leadership, differentiation and focus strategies. The findings also indicated that the brand and vision was instituted around the specific customer promise making it visible to the niche market. The findings of the study also indicated that Islamic banks have introduced aspects of technology to include the impact of internet, emerging technological impact, reduction in communication costs, technological incentives, activities in regard to R&D, rate at which technology was changing and levels of automation. From the study results, it was therefore recommended that employees of both GAB and FCB should be trained on the ways of implementing cost strategies to ensure banks are able to implement the cost leadership strategy. This will ensure that all the Islamic banks get cost advantage over their rivals and this can be conducted through continuous automation of systems. The study also recommends that Banks to aim beyond Muslim clients and aim for non-Muslim clients as most Islamic banks name their products using Arabic terms that non-Muslims cannot understand and relate to which gives the impression that Islamic banking is only for Muslims. The most basic requirement is the need for an Islamic bank to work perfectly on the demand of, or response to its customers ‘needs and wants. Moreover, these banks should invest on ICT infrastructure which should help the bank to grow towards achieving the set goals. Islamic banks need to come up with ICT strategies which are in line with the ever changing business environment. ICT strategies adopted by Islamic bank should focus on reducing cost of doing business. Both banks should asses the marketing strategies effectiveness by coming up with quantitative characteristics which can be obtained from Islamic banks sample. Islamic banks should change their sales strategies according to the changing business environment. Marketing strategies should help banks in understanding the types of expectations so as to appreciate benefits customers expect to receive. They should also constantly evaluate their marketing strategies. Further, Islamic banks should strive for quality customer service as a way of increasing the number of customers.