Dear faithful readers,
Welcome back to the second issue of IF HUB for this year. Time flies so quickly that without realising it we are approaching Q3, 2022. Though the world is ‘slowly relieved’ from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, current geopolitical conflicts have posed another worrying risk to economic growth. ‘Overall economic optimism continues to decline’, a survey by McKinsey in March 2022 revealed.
In this issue, we will navigate our readers through the positive impact of COVID-19 on the resurgence of the ‘gig economy’, a term coined after the global financial crisis 2008, to connote a free-market system where companies hire independent workers as the need arises for short-term commitments. Our esteemed contributors discuss how the gig economy has benefited the Islamic finance industry in Malaysia, Brunei and Sub-Saharan Africa (Ethiopia and Kenya) in various columns: In-person, INCEIF Think Tank and INCEIF Alumni.
Q2, 2022 was quite busy with different activities taking place during the fasting month of Ramadan, followed by the Eid celebration. These are captured in our column on Events @ INCEIF.
The IF HUB editorial team would also like take this opportunity to congratulate our newly appointed Deputy President Operations, Dr Muhammad Syahmi Mohd Karim, whose appointment was effective on 9 May 2022 for three years.
Finally, my sincere appreciation goes to all contributors and my dedicated editorial team, without whom this issue would not have been successfully completed.
May Allah accept this effort and count it as part of our good deeds.
Happy reading and take care!
Dr Marjan Muhammad
Editor-in-Chief
​
​
