Sustainable Development and Infrastructure

Book excerpt: Most books on Islamic finance and development issues are written from an academic perspective. Although academic reflection is key for future direction, dissatisfaction with previous development efforts, as evidenced by their lack of sustainability, suggests the need for a different type of review. Development work is complex and requires a detailed and transparent approach in order to ensure a cogent resolution for potential long-term issues. Each intervention area requires specific elaboration for meaningful impact. The perfect solution for one sector might be detrimental for another. Islamic finance, with its strict Riba restrictions, rules, and other checks and balances, is a good fit for infrastructure development in pursuit of sustainable development. When it comes to sustainable development, this book argues, Islamic finance has the tools to intervene for maximum impact. However, the issue of sustainability is not only related to Islamic finance; more policy discourse is needed. This requires guidance from the principles of Islamic economics, as well. This book discusses infrastructure development vis-à-vis sustainable development, drawn from decades of real-life development banking experience, and proposes impactful intervention methods based on wisdom from Islamic economics and finance.