Panellist Mohamed Damak, senior director, global head of Islamic Finance MEA at the S&P Global Ratings credit rating agency, explained that the historical evolution of the market – with a current global asset value of $2.5tn – has been driven by several factors. These include the acceleration of the economy in core oil exporting markets since 2002; the rate of issuance of Islamic bonds or sukuk; and the takaful (Islamic insurance) industry, which continues to benefit from more demand for insurance products and relatively low penetration of coverage in several key Islamic finance markets. Even recent geopolitical and macroeconomic challenges are not expected to restrict the sector's continuing growth. "Obviously there are some risks to the growth prospects such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict – which is more protracted than initially expected, continued high inflation, and faster than expected monetary policy normalisation," added Damak.