The UK wants to debut. So does South Africa. Hong Kong is hot on their heels. The lure of the Islamic finance industry has governments of non-Muslim nations jostling to make their first issues of sovereign sukuk bonds – instruments that provide a return but do not, technically, pay interest.

After prime minister David Cameron’s autumn announcement, UK officials have invited advisory interest and are said to be on course for an inaugural issue – ￡200m, say – in the next financial year. There is speculation that South Africa has similar plans for 2014. Hong Kong, too, has tweaked its tax rules to facilitate sukuk issuance.

Ironically, this spate of interest has coincided with a fall in new sukuk bond issues by traditional borrowers. The Islamic Finance Information Service thinks about $120bn of securities were issued in 2013, against $150bn in 2012, when growth ran at 60 per cent. Still, there have been some notable developments over the past 12 months, including Turkey’s return to the market with a $1.25bn sukuk after its 2012 debut.