IslamicFinance.de

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) is to provide $104m (£67.3m) in loans to African governments to fund an expansion of Millennium Villages, the controversial project led by Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute. About $40m of the money will go towards a flagship sustainable villages programme (SVP) in Chad, Mozambique, and Sudan. In addition, $29m will support the extension of existing Millennium Village projects (MVPs) in Mali, Senegal and Uganda, while $35m will be used for a drylands initiative in Djibouti, Somalia and Uganda. Governments will team up with the IsDB, the Earth Institute, and its partner, Millennium Promise, to carry out the projects. The Millennium Village project covers more than 500,000 people in 14 areas of 10 countries in different environments across Africa. Each site was considered a "hunger hot-spot" at the time the project began in 2006. The concept works on the principle of interventions across several key areas – health, education, enterprise and agriculture – over a 10-year period.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank plans to branch out in North Africa as the UAE-based lender seeks to reach a larger population. The bank applied for licenses in Algeria and Libya and is considering new operations in Tunisia and Morocco. Chief executive Tirad Mahmoud said the bank is seeking to expand in nations with a critical mass in terms of population and economic activity. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank has also moved into countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Sudan, Mahmoud said. The bank wants to be better placed to serve companies, such as Dubai-based mall operator Majid al-Futtaim, which operate across the Middle East and North Africa. Banks that comply with Islam’s ban on interest have become increasing popular after the revolts implemented Islamists into power in some North African countries.

Laws, legislative rules and regulations governing Islamic bonds will be implemented as planned, as part of government efforts to revive the economy, according to Egyptian Finance Minister Ahmed Galal. However, he refused to say who would assume the role of Chairman of the Islamic Bonds Division within the ministry, after the sacking of previous chairman Ahmed Al-Nagar. Ahmed Al-Gabali, Advisor to the Minister on Islamic Bonds, is reportedly interested in the position but will need to be made aware of the nature of the job before applying. Galal previously published a decision to dispose of a number of legal advisors and chairmen of financial units due to their affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, among them Ahmed Al-Nagar, previous Chairman of the Ministry of Finance’s Islamic Bonds División.

According to Mr. Darkhan Nurpeissov, Vice Chairman of the Agency regulating the Regional Financial Center of Almaty (RFCA), Almaty is to be transformed into a global center of Islamic finance by 2015-2020. By 2012-2015 it is planned to put in place infrastructure for the Islamic financial industry to turn Almaty into a full-fledged center of Islamic finance. Legal foundation has already been laid. Almaty is home to the first Islamic bank in Kazakhstan. A second Islamic bank is to enter the market shortly. Besides, an Islamic insurance company and a brokerage, a handful of consultancies and funds have been launched. However, according to Mr. Nurpeissov, the population is not fully aware of Islamic finance. Kazakhstan is going to take over the chairmanship of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in June.

The board of directors of El Wifack Leasing company wants to transform itself into a Universal Islamic bank and has submitted an application to the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) in order to get the approval. The transformation of the company comes by virtue of the decision taken during its meeting last March 28.

Le conseil d’administration de la société « El Wifack Leasing » a déposé auprès de la Banque centrale de Tunisie (BCT) une demande d’agrément pour la transformation de la société en Banque islamique universelle. Dans un communiqué publié sur le site du Conseil du marché financier (CMF), la même source souligne que l’instruction du dossier d’agrément demeure encore au stade initial et que le conseil d’administration de la société El Wifack Leasing ne peut s’exprimer jusque là sur les issues potentielles que peut prendre cette demande. A défaut d’obtention de l’agrément, la société continuera à développer son activité et lancera sa deuxième tranche d’augmentation de capital, a avancé El Wifack Leasing.

The global sukuk market is poised for a record-breaking year, according to Standard Chartered Saadiq's chief executive officer Wasim Saufi. Standard Chartered expects demand for Islamic bonds to help push sales to levels unseen before this year although Islamic bond sales fell by as much as 11 per cent for the first six months of the year. Wasim said several issuances are in the pipeline, including a few being evaluated for dollar sukuk to be issued by Malaysian companies. One that is in the pipeline is Khazanah Nasional’s sale of US$1 billion of convertible Islamic bonds. Ernst & Young LLP in a December 2012 report predicted that the global demand for sukuk will reach US$950 billion by 2017. According to Bloomberg-compiled data, global sukuk sales hit US$18.8 billion in the first half of the year.

TheAbu Dhabi Forum on Entrepreneurship, which is organised by the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, will take place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec) from October 7 to 9. The forum aims to highlight important projects by young entrepreneurs, support fresh and creative ideas and finance innovative business models. It addresses a diverse range of issues such as financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro-enterprises, the evolving role of young entrepreneurs in the economy, social empowerment and numerous other advancements. The forum will also provide an opportunity to meet potential investors, clients and industry bodies and learn from their experiences in the world of business. Around 69 projects totalling Dh51.4 million have been financed by the Khalifa Fund during the first quarter of this year.

Pakistan will reportedly receive 250 million Euros from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in the ongoing month of August, which is part of 750 million Euros loan. Similarly, the country will also avail the trade facility of $150 million for import of fertilizer and Petroleum products this month. The Islamic Development Bank had agreed to the loan and the trade facility in a meeting between the President of the Islamic Development Bank, Dr. Ahmed Muhammad Ali, and Pakistan’s Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar in Jeddah last week. Pakistan will also receive $500 million from Asian Development Bank and $500 million from World Bank in the second half (January-June) of the ongoing financial year 2013-14. Moreover, Pakistan is expecting to receive $3.4 billion from IMF during the current financial year. The loans will help building the foreign exchange reserves, which are currently around $10.25 billion.

Fitch Ratings has assigned Salam III Limited's USD100m insurance-linked Sukuk programme an expected rating of 'BBB-(EXP)'. Fitch has also assigned a rating of 'BBB-(EXP)' to the proposed first USD20m tranche under the programme. ATLANTICLUX Lebensversicherung S.A. (ATL) acts as ultimate obligor in the programme, which is sponsored by ATL's parent company FWU AG. The Sukuk programme's rating is the same as ATL's Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR). Each tranche of the Salam III Sukuk programme will have its final payment date five years after its issuance. The first tranche of USD20m is currently planned to be issued in September 2013. Proceeds from the programme will be used to finance upfront acquisition costs of new business. The Sukuk programme has no material impact on ATL's credit fundamentals such as financial leverage or capitalisation.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has lowered the counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Dubai-based Salama/Islamic Arab Insurance Co. (Salama/IAIC) to ‘BBB+’ from ‘A-’ . The outlook is negative. The counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Salama/IAIC’s wholly-owned, Malaysia-based reinsurance subsidiaries, BEST RE and BEST RE Family have also been lowered to ‘BBB’ from ‘A-’ . The consolidated Salama/IAIC group displays a satisfactory business risk profile, and a strong financial risk profile. S&P has revised its view of the BEST RE subgroup’s group status to its parent to strategically important from core because the subgroup’s activities, size, and earnings potential have reduced. Despite the group and subgroup’s current difficulties, the rating agency continues to regard the consolidated Salama group’s capital adequacy as extremely strong. The outlook can be revised to stable if the situation at BEST RE stabilizes without causing material financial or reputational issues for Salama/IAIC.

Bahrain-based Seera Investment Bank has reported a net income of $5.1 million for the first half of this year compared with a net income of $1.7m for the same period last year. Total income was $8.5m compared with $4.6m last time. The increase in income was attributed to an increase in management fees on assets under management and the early settlement of financing relating to the bank's aviation portfolio. Total assets of the bank were $349m. Seera's balance sheet remains strong with a capital adequacy ratio of 23 per cent and liquid assets of $33m. Profit for the second quarter was $5.5m compared with a profit of $830,000 for the same period last year. Seera has investments in the industrial manufacturing and transportation sectors in addition to smaller investments in the utilities and real estate sectors.

Cooperative Insurance Company is the first firm established in the form of a public joint stock cooperative in line with the general policies of Article 44 of Iran's Constitution, which seeks large-scale privatization, and promotion of cooperative sector. A majority of the shares of Cooperative Insurance Company belong to companies and associations affiliated to the cooperatives sector. Cooperative Insurance Company is to conduct insurance activities in the fields of life insurance and other types of insurance services under the supervision of the Central Insurance of Iran. The managing director of the company, Akbar Najafi, explained that the major goal of Cooperative Insurance Company is to address insurance needs and render services in the cooperatives sector. Since the cooperatives have been established with public assets, they need more financial and legal support compared to other sectors in order to materialize their goals.

A judge has ruled that HDG Mansur Investment Services must return $5.8 million in fees it paid itself from two equity funds it managed under Islamic law. The Indianapolis real estate fund asset manager didn’t have the right to recalculate its fees to claim a higher take for itself, according to federal Judge Colleen McMahon of New York. The lawsuit contends that, starting in early 2012, HDG Mansur began paying itself fees in advance for future real estate transactions. When those deals never happened, the Indianapolis company came up with the underbilling rationale in an effort to cover up the unearned payments that they had been making to themselves. HDG Mansur was dropped as the funds’ manager earlier this year. The judge also ordered HDG Mansur to pay 9 percent interest on the fees that are to be returned.

Standard & Poor's reduced Al Baraka's rating from BBB- to BB+ with a negative outlook on the back of increased sovereign and economic risk in the regions where it operates, particularly Egypt and Jordan. Operating environment and credit conditions in the MENA region is expected to remain tough over the coming 12-18 months. Consequently, S&P foresees an adverse impact on Al Baraka's business and financial profiles. The negative outlook reflects S&P's view that the lender's capitalisation could deteriorate if, for instance, Egypt defaults and economic conditions worsen in Jordan. This is the first time that Al Baraka has been downgraded. Earlier this week, the lender said that net income for the second quarter of 2013 rose 11 percent from a year ago to $42 million.

Foot Anstey LLP, a South West law firm, is winning valuable contracts from the Middle East by specialising in Islamic finance. The firm, which has five offices across the South West región, is one of very few firms in the UK to be able to arrange finance deals in accordance with Islamic law. The Islamic finance team at Foot Anstey has recently advised Islamic banks and Middle Eastern investors on a range of high value and complex transactions. They have created structures to allow conventional and Islamic financiers to work together. Foot Anstey has already advised several Middle Eastern investors on Islamic finance deals. Although most of its business has been in the Middle East, where there is still potential growth, the firm is now looking to expand into South East Asia as well.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has lowered its long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) to 'BB+/B' from 'BBB-/A-3'. The outlook is negative. The rating action follows S&P's review of the wider implications of deteriorated sovereign creditworthiness in the past 12 months in some countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) , where ABG operates, especially Egypt and Jordan. The ratings agency lowered its assessment of ABG's risk position to "adequate" from "strong," owing to its operations in high-risk MENA countries. The ratings remain supported by ABG's strong business position, and its average funding and adequate liquidity position. The negative outlook reflects S&P's view that ABG’s capitalization could deteriorate to levels deemed as weak if, for instance, Egypt defaults and further economic stress materializes in Jordan.

US-based World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) recently published the “Islamic Finance Manual: Operating Policies and Procedures”, a guide that is intended to assist bankers with establishing Shariah-compliant credit unions in developing countries. The manual was developed by the Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA), an Australia-based member organization of WOCCU, based on COBA’s experience establishing Islamic investment and finance cooperatives in Afghanistan since 2004. The guide is intended to provide operating policies and procedures based on international standards for financial cooperatives and to comply with Islamic law. Each chapter includes a review of procedural requirements as well as template contracts and forms. The manual is available online from WOCCU’s website.

Dr. Mohammed Namadi Sambo, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has received Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Ali, President of the IDB Group in Makkah Guest Palace. The discussion covered arrangements made for the implementation of number of projects approved by the Bank for Nigeria and the on-going efforts that aim at establishing a representation office in Nigeria. Discussion also touched on issues related to the IDB’s role in supporting the Transformation Agenda Progamme in Nigeria. The Programme pursues growth in a number of sectors that include projects such as electricity transmission lines, regional and national road network, partnership between private and public sector in energy and supporting exports. The IDB President has offered to organize an investment conference in Nigeria early in 2014 similar to a conference organized by the IDB last year in Abuja. The Vice president of Nigeria welcomed this initiative.

Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House has announced a net profit of $4.2m for the half year of 2013. Net profit fell compared to $5.7m in the corresponding half year period in 2012 despite a drive to reduce costs. Second quarter net profit also dropped to $2.7m from $4.7m for Q2 2012. Total income for the second quarter was $13.4m compared to a total income of $19.7m for the second quarter of 2012. It said income was primarily generated from management fees from funds under management, investment income and recoveries. It added that operating costs for the half year period reduced by 27 percent to $19.6m compared to $26.9m for the prior year period, underlining ongoing efforts in the streamlining of operations. GFH's new strategy calls for it to become more involved in its investments, and to hold projects until completion rather than passing them to third parties to develop as was done in the past.