A unit of Djibouti-based Salaam Group launched in Uganda on Wednesday as the country’s first Islamic banking-compliant financial institution, the Ugandan president’s office said.

The launch of the Salaam Bank Limited’s operations follows a law legalising Islamic banking in the east African country last year.

Islamic finance follows Islamic religious principles such as bans on interest payments and also eschews investments in some activities like gambling.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni presided over the launch of the bank in the capital Kampala.