Mr. Muhammed Sonko: is an Islamic Microfinance professional at the Central Bank of The Gambia. He is responsible for supervising and regulating Non-Bank Islamic Financial Institutions (NBIFIs). He has about 8 years work experience. Prior to joining the Central Bank, he worked briefly as a Research Assistant at A&T Consulting Services, where he was the Field Coordinator and Administrator 2019 to 2020 survey on “Women and Youth Participation on Decision Process”. He also worked for Mbolo Association (Spanish NGO) in Tujereng, as Research Assistant. He conducted baseline Survey on Socioeconomic activities at Kartong Fish Landing Site with a view of construction an ice plant. He prepared the survey timelines and coded the excel data into SPSS in this project for advanced analysis by the Lead Consultant. He also assisted in the compilation of the Paper Assisted Personal Interviews (PAPI).

Mr. Sonko holds a double degree in Economics, and Islamic Economics, Banking & Finance from the University of The Gambia (UTG) and International Open University (IOU) (formerly Islamic Online University) respectively. He was featured four times on the global Top Ten Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance students published by IOU at the end of each semester. He was ranked first position in IOU Fall Semester 2018. He also published an article in international reputable journal (Journal of Islamic Finance, Vol. 9 No. 1 (2020) IIUM Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance) titled “Customers’ Perceptions on Islamic Banking:  A Case Study in the Gambia”.

Mr. Sonko also worked as an intern at the IOU Finance Department and has participated in numerous surveys as an enumerator with the Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBOS). He has a solid background in research and organized research classes for IOU first-semester students on how to avoid plagiarism and conduct original research. He recruited enumerators, supervisors, mappers, and drivers for the Survey on Women and Youth Participation on Decision Making Processes in The Gambia. He also managed the survey budget and prepared payment vouchers and ensured that data collected from the field meets the standard of both the Lead Consultant and the UNFPA.