IslamicFinance.de

Nigerian Jaiz Bank PLC has reiterated a firm commitment to the provision of ethical banking services to its customers. The bank has unveiled its array of value adding products and services which it said are available to all irrespective of race or religion. Key amongst the areas being financed by the bank are the Agricultural Sector, Small and Medium Scale Industries and Home Finance. Other products offered by the bank are Jaiz Home Finance, Jaiz Auto Finance, Jaiz Home Appliances Finance, Lease Finance as well as Working Capital and Asset Acquisition Finance. Jaiz Bank has branches in Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Maiduguri and Gombe with additional 10 branches to be opened across the northern part of the country before the end of this quarter.

Takaful Ikhlas will focus on group insurance schemes in efforts to educate more Malay clients on the importance of Islamic insurance policy and protection coverage. President and Chief Executive Officer Ab Latiff Abu Bakar said the Islamic insurance penetration rate by the Malays in the country was only 12 per cent. Of the 88 per cent of the Malay market for Islamic insurance protection which have not been penetrated, the company is aiming to secure up to 10 per cent next year, driven by would-be-launched new group schemes and existing group insurance policies, he said. Takaful Ikhlas is targeting RM10 million returns in the next five years from its group insurance schemes. Ab Latiff said Takaful Ikhlas was also confident of netting RM2 million worth of sales this year from RM1.5 million last year, aided by the appointment of more agents, up to 50, and improved marketing strategies.

Nigeria is gradually opening up to Islamic finance, a move that could develop one of Africa's fastest-growing consumer and corporate banking sectors and establish the country as the African hub for Islamic finance. In recent months, a string of regulatory initiatives have set the groundwork for products such as Islamic bonds (sukuk), insurance (takaful) and interbank lending products, although there is still only a small number of local market participants. Islamic banking is currently offered by the Islamic window of Stanbic IBTC, a unit of South Africa's Standard Bank, and Jaiz Bank, a full-fledged Islamic lender which has operated since 2012. Sterling Bank has been granted approval in principle for an Islamic window, while two more lenders have expressed interest in obtaining licences to operate Islamic Windows.

The Federal Government of Nigeria has sought the support of the Islamic Development Bank for the provision of about $450m to expand the power transmission system to wheel up to 20,000 megawatts of electricity. According to Vice-President Namadi Sambo, more funds need to be injected in the transmission component. Sambo also called on the bank to consider the construction of a road linking Lagos to Abidjan, the capital of Côte d’Ivoire. Moreover, he requested the IDB to extend its support to the Nigerian private sector in the areas of education, aviation and agriculture. IDB has already approved the construction of four new science secondary schools in Kaduna State worth $17,9m; construction of a 300-bed specialist hospital in Kaduna State at $43.15m; and the Zaria water supply project worth $81.0m. Furthermore, the$32.40m Jigawa State rural development project and the bilingual education programme for Borno, Gombe and Niger states worth $30.53m are under consideration.

Almost half of the 150 million Singapore dollar ($118 million) sukuk issued by Swiber went to investors from Brunei, helping Swiber clinch pricing that was more competitive than conventional debt. Swiber's five-year deal priced last week to yield 6.5 percent and was backed by strong anchor demand from high-quality institutional investors before books opened. About half of the bonds were allocated to Islamic institutions. The biggest chunk, 46.3 percent, went to Brunei, while Malaysia took 10.0 percent and Singapore 43.7 percent. Institutional buyers accounted for a huge 96.5 percent share of the deal. Maybank Kim Eng was sole lead arranger and global coordinator for the programme. Proceeds from the issue will be used to refinance debt and support capital expenditure.

Wong & Partners is advising Malaysian investment company BIMB Holdings on its proposed $885 million takeover of Bank Islam. The deal is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, and will be financed by a $1.8 billion capital raise.
Kuala Lumpur partners Munir Abdul Aziz and Wong Sue Wan are advising BIMB Holdings on the transaction, as well as the rights issue. Kuala Lumpur partner Mark Lim will act for Bank Islam as the lead arranger on the bond issuance. Zaid Ibrahim & Co. Kuala Lumpur partner Wan Marzimin and Zul Rafique & Partners Kuala Lumpur partner Lukman Sheriff Alias are acting as counsel to Dubai Financial Group and Lembaga Tabung Haji, respectively.

In cooperation with Chambers of Commerce in Abha and Eastern Region, the National Commercial Bank ( NCB ) has recently celebrated the graduates of "How to Start Your Small Business" Course. A number of 94 entrepreneurs from Jeddah, Abha and Eastern Region enrolled in the course. The course has covered a great number of entrepreneurs projects in different areas including industrial, commercial and other projects. It included theory training for 10 days, followed by 6 sessions within 3 months for practical training, which included a program for follow-up and consultancy. The course comes in line with NCB CSR programs, through which the bank trains entrepreneurs from men and women to start their enterprises, encourages investment culture and creates a competitive environment in the local market.

The British University in Dubai (BUiD) organised and successfully concluded its second Sustainability Summer School (SSS)end June where over 50 undergraduate and post-graduate students from various universities across the region participated in a week-long professional development programme on sustainability.The theme at the event this year was “Greener Hands for a Greener Community’. It was aimed at the participating students imparting knowledge on how to reduce the ecological footprint not only as individuals but also as campaigners who would enthuse other members of the community in developing greener communities for a greener future.Members of the five competing teams were proactive in coming up with innovative eco-conservation ideas and making field trips to organisations such as Masdar City, Dubai Metro, DEWA and the Platinum Pacific Control’s building that uses solar energy.

Dubai SME has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the World Entrepreneurship Forum to host the UAE chapter of the Forum to promote entrepreneurial idea exchange and networking in the region. Dubai will be the first city in the Middle East to host a local chapter of the World Entrepreneurship Forum in December 2013. Dubai SME will be responsible for co-ordinating the local chapter through co-shaping policy ideas with regional key stakeholders to influence change and advancing entrepreneurship as a core strategy for socio-economic development. The Forum brings together key actors of the entrepreneurial ecosystem from a pool of entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, stakeholders, service providers, experts, academics, and politicians selected for their contribution and impact to society.

Bank Sohar's Islamic banking arm, Sohar Islamic, has launched a Shari'ah-compliant home finance programme, as part of its plan to expand the products and services portfolio. The new product features flexible terms, which offer financing for up to 80% of the property value, with a repayment period of up to 25 years.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has agreed to extend a loan facility of 750 million euros to Pakistan. The first tranche of the loan will be released before mid of the current month. The IDB will also provide a trade facility of $150 million for import of fertiliser and petroleum products. Besides, the IDB president informed the finance minister that Islamic Development Bank was keen to work with Pakistan for the eradication of polio in the country. The President of Islamic Development Bank, Dr Ahmed Mohammad Ali, assured the finance minster Mohammad Ishaq Dar, of the full cooperation and support of IDB for Pakistan.

Emirates Islamic Bank has tied up with a number of organisations to promote activities and charity campaigns to mark the spirit of Ramadan. The bank is the main sponsor for the Zakat Fund Ramadan Campaign, which aims to emphasise the importance of Zakat during Ramadan. In another major initiative, Emirates Islamic Bank is the Gold Sponsor for the Dubai International Holy Quran Award which aims to encourage young Muslims to memorise and understand the Holy Quran. The bank is also the main sponsor for the Al Ajer Initiative, to encourage people to understand the importance of forgiveness. Moreover, Emirates Islamic Bank is also supporting the Ramadan activities of Emirates Foundation for Youth Development that facilitates public-private funded initiatives. Emirates Islamic Bank has also teamed up with Dar Al Ber Society to provide vouchers worth Dhs500 to 100 underprivileged families during Ramadan.

Banks should not be afraid to go further and faster in their adoption of cloud computing, according to Mohamed Gamil, chief operating officer at Islamic Bank of Britain. IBB currently has a deal with US cloud computing company Salesforce.com. Gamil said that the adoption of the cloud means that he is free to experiment with new ideas without spending millions of pounds up front. Islamic Bank of Britain originally turned to cloud computing for customer relationship management. It then decided to move sales management, customer on-boarding for current accounts and savings into the cloud. Finally in July 2013, Islamic mortgage alternatives were added to the cloud. The cloud idea is especially interesting for small banks which have to compete with the big players that spend hundreds of millions of pounds on IT every year.

After the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) cancelled Ahmedabad-based Parsoli Corporation's registration as a stock broker, the CEO of the firm, Zafar Sareshwala, claimed that his company had exited the stock-broking business voluntarily in 2010 and described the SEBI's move as a classic case of harassment. He claimed that SEBI had targeted his company because it was a Muslim firm and had proposed to bring in Islamic financing. SEBI had cancelled the certificates granted to Parsoli Corporation as a stock broker on both the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange due to observations that Parsoli was not fit and proper and was repeatedly found guilty of violating securities laws on more than one occasion.

Cash Waqf is a voluntary endowment of money, deposited to the banks perpetually. Profit paid on this deposit is spent in different people's welfare purposes according to instructions of the account holders. These include education, health, food, utility and rehabilitation services as per instruction of the donors. The product is still at primary stage of its flourishing in Bangladesh. When a considerable amount of investment will be injected into the scheme, it might significantly contribute to a stable and sustainable economy. Banking insiders attributed the rising popularity of the scheme mainly to the opportunity to donate cash-money during the present time of land scarcity, and to the flexibility of distributing cash-benefits anywhere. Anybody can open this account by depositing total money of declared Waqf amount once or by installments.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia has announced the rolling out of the country’s first-ever Shariah-compliant solar photovoltaic (PV) financing scheme valued between RM20 million and RM30 million within the next 2-3 years. Deputy CEO Musa Abdul Malek said that for the first year, the bank may disburse from RM10 million to RM15 million of the funds to 1,000 homeowners, who will be fitting their homes with solar PV systems, which will be grid connected and reap from the country’s solar PV Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) system. However, he said the Smart Green Mortgage Solar PV FiT Plan with its design based on the murabahah structure, is a mortgage plan that does not a have a high-end margin for the bank with a mere 1% yield. The Bank Muamalat package for solar PV is the second in the Malaysian market after Alliance Bank announced its solar financing package in June.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) announced 103 million Kuwaiti dinar or $362 million of precautionary provisions on Tuesday, as it posted a smaller than expected rise in second-quarter net profit. The bank did not provide any more details on the provisions, which cover the first half of the year, nor a comparative figure for the same period the year before. It added that indicators related to profit growth and operating revenues were positive. Net profit rose to 26.8 million dinars in the three months ended June. The lender did not provide further details on its profit. It said it would continue with its expansion plans after its 319 million dinar capital increase last month.

While Islamic banking assets have grown rapidly around the world to stand at more than USD1.3 trillion at the end of 2012, the industry has remained in its infancy in Africa. However that could be about to change. By the end of this decade it’s quite possible that banking complying with Shariah law could grow to account for up to 10 per cent of banking assets in five or six sub-Saharan African countries, including Kenya and Nigeria. Behind the buzz is real demand from African domestic consumers for the choice to bank in accordance with their faith. Governments and regulators in Africa no longer view Islamic banking as a niche industry, but actively seek to encourage its development. There’s also growing awareness of the significant liquidity pool now available in Islamic finance, particularly across the Middle East, as a source of funding for crucial infrastructure investment. Sub-Saharan Africa has a great opportunity to develop a healthy Islamic banking eco-system much faster than other regions of the world.

Dubai Financial Group (DFG) has agreed to divest of its 30.5% stake in Bank Islam to BIMB Holdings in Malaysia, in a deal worth $550m. BIMB Holdings currently owns 49% stake of Bank Islam and the recent acquisition, which completed on 31 July 2013, will enable it to strengthen its banking business in the country. Bank Islam manages a branch network of more than 127 offices. Following DFG's acquisition, the total assets of the lender rose from MYR14.6bn ($ 4.5bn) in 2006 to MYR37.4bn ($11.5bn) by the end of 2012. In June this year, the company divested its credit card operation The Dubai First to Abu Dhabi based First Gulf Bank (FGB) in a deal reached at $164m.

The US-based World Council of Credit Unions has launched a manual discussing how to establish and operate sharia-compliant credit unions in developing countries, which could help to broaden the Islamic finance industry's retail customer base. The council hopes the manual will help to develop Islamic credit unions across a wide range of markets. The guide is considered complete but the council also recognises that this is an ongoing project as Islamic finance spreads to other credit union systems. The council used its nine-year experience establishing cooperatives in Afghanistan to create a manual that follows Islamic principles. According to the council, there are now 30 sharia-compliant credit unions in Afghanistan, comprising the world's youngest credit union movement and the only one to claim full compliance with Islamic law.