In times of conflict, a central bank can play a unifying role. This is what is happening in Libya.

Awash with hydrocarbons and boasting a highly liquid banking sector, Libya's potential is vast. However, continued political and social unrest, combined with the dominant position of state-owned banks, mean that the country's private sector banks have numerous obstacles preventing them from realising this potential.

The Arab Spring uprisings have brought change on an unprecedented scale to north Africa over the past couple of years, but what impact have these changes had upon the region's appetite for Islamic finance?

Islamic finance is increasingly being viewed as a credible alternative to conventional finance, but Hussain Al-Qemzi, group chief executive of Dubai-based Noor Investment Group and chief executive of Noor Islamic Bank, recognises that Islamic institutions must work together if they are to compete with conventional banks.

Arab banks offset the turmoil of the Arab Spring and offered a robust performance in 2011 with impressive growth across the key financial indicators. And with minimal exposure to the eurozone crisis, the region's banks are expected to continue their recovery from the global financial crisis.

The general manager of Libya's stock market says the recently reopened exchange will help to quicken the country's recovery from its revolution last year by reigniting its privatisation process.

As Libya emerges from 42 years of state domination under former leader Muammar Gaddafi and an eight-month civil war, the country’s banking sector faces opportunities and challenges in almost equal measure. 

After years of economic mismanagement, Libya's two key state financial institutions – the Libyan Foreign Bank and the country's sovereign wealth fund, the Libyan Investment Authority – are restructuring and carving out new strategies as the country wakes up to a new economic dawn.

Libya's former central bank governor tells how the country's uprising will lead to many opportunities for investors in the oil, tourism, mining and banking sectors, as long as there is a return to stability.