I hope that this seminar will provide you opportunities to discuss and raise issues in Islamic finance, common to Africa. Although many issues will probably still remain unresolved, you will leave with more fruitful ideas than before. This gathering of new ideas and schools of thought on Islamic finance will intensify awareness on the role of Islamic finance in the development of Africa.
I believe the FOMC has been highly effective in communicating its shifting outlook for the economy and appropriate policy actions as the data revealed that inflation was increasing much more than forecasters expected.