Page 22 - Valentino Cattelan - Credere is credit and creed: trust, money, and religion in western and islamic finance

VALENTINO CATTELAN

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the social interactions in which they are engaged» . The lack of automatic
correlation between Islamic finance and social impact can be also inferred from
the recent development of the literature on Islamic social finance, which indirectly
shows how the notion of risk-sharing (certainly embedded in the paradigm of
Islamic finance) requires, to have real social impact, specific policies, instruments
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as well as political energies to be put in practice .
This critical approach has started appearing also from the practitioners of the
market, who recognize that «Islamic economy’s growth should not be measured
by the accumulation of wealth, but by the positive social impact that this wealth
leaves. Money by itself is not wealth, but a means through which we can create a
system of production and trade, which creates social impact in sectors like
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knowledge, health, education and infrastructure» .
Last but certainly not least, the non-immediate overlap between Islamic
finance and social finance emerges from a document co-authored by the United
Nations Development Programme, Istanbul International Centre for Private
Sector in Development (IICPSD) and the Islamic Research and Training Centre
of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB), entitled I for Impact: Blending
Islamic Finance and Impact Investing for the Global Goals.
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The report, taking as background the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development ,
announces the establishment of a partnership between the two institutions in the
form of a new Global Islamic Finance and Impact Investing Platform (GIFIIP).
Accordingly, «[t]he overall goal of the GIFIIP is to accelerate progress towards
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by positioning Islamic finance and
impact investing as (a) leading enabler(s) of SDG implementation across different
parts of the globe through engaging the private sector. It is important to note that
the concept of impact investing is also in line with the objectives and strategy of
the IDB’s 10-year framework. To facilitate the process of achieving this goal, this
report, “Blending Islamic Finance and Impact Investing for the Global Goals”
aims to raise awareness of the compatibility between Islamic finance and impact
investing. The report is therefore an indisputably major hallmark for solid
collaboration between both sectors. It also reviews recent developments and key
factors for growth; pinpoints similarities between the two sectors; and formulates
policy recommendations for development actors to create the conditions for the
two sectors to benefit from each other» .
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74 MERTZANIS, Collaborative governance, social capital and the Islamic economic organization, in
CATTELAN (ed.), Islamic social finance: entrepreneurship, cooperation and the sharing economy, Abingdon,
UK - New York, US, 2019, 55.
75 See, for instance, CATTELAN (ed.), Islamic social finance: entrepreneurship, cooperation and the
sharing economy, Abingdon, UK - New York, US, 2019.
76 The comment was made by Hussain Al-Qemzi, EIBFS (Emirates Institute for Banking and
Financial Services) Chairman: AL-QEMZI, The social impact of Islamic finance, in EIBFS News, 2016, 1.
77 UNITED NATIONS, Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, op. cit.
78 IICPSD - IDB, I for impact: blending Islamic finance and impact investing for the global goals, 2017,
9, available online (last accessed 8 July 2024).

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