Speaker
Description
Balarabe, N. M.
Yusuf Bala Usman College of Education and Legal Studies, Daura, Katsina State, Nigeria
nasirmusabalarabe01@gmail.com
Track: AI, Emerging Technologies and Future Learning
Nigeria faces one of the most acute financial exclusion crises in sub-Saharan Africa, with over 38% of its adult population lacking access to formal financial services, a challenge disproportionately concentrated in the Muslim-majority North-West and North-East geopolitical zones. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly reshaping the global financial services sector by enhancing operational efficiency, deepening customer engagement, and widening access to financial products. Within the Islamic finance industry, AI-driven innovations have created new pathways for expanding ethical and Shari’ah-compliant financial services through Islamic Financial Technology (Islamic FinTech). The convergence of AI and Islamic FinTech offers a structurally significant opportunity to address Nigeria’s financial exclusion challenge in a culturally and religiously compatible manner. Employing a systematic narrative literature review anchored in the Maqāsid al-Sharīʿah (objectives of Islamic law) framework and supported by secondary data from the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) Access to Finance Survey, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) financial inclusion reports, and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), this paper examines the role of AI in enhancing Islamic financial services and evaluates its contribution to financial inclusion in Nigeria. It analyses key AI applications including machine learning, predictive analytics, intelligent customer support systems, and automated Sharīʿah compliance mechanisms and assesses their capacity to improve the accessibility, efficiency, and reliability of Islamic financial products. Positioning financial inclusion as the central problem, AI-driven Islamic FinTech as the primary solution mechanism, and skills development as the critical policy implication, the paper further investigates the digital competencies required in the evolving Islamic finance ecosystem and assesses their implications for workforce readiness. The paper concludes that the convergence of AI and Islamic FinTech can significantly advance financial inclusion, strengthen ethical finance, and support sustainable economic growth in Nigeria. It recommends specific, context-sensitive actions by the CBN, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), tertiary education institutions, and Islamic financial institutions to foster innovation, digital literacy, and a resilient Islamic FinTech ecosystem capable of meeting the financial needs of underserved populations