IslamicFinance.de

Indonesia is likely to defeat Turkey to host the Islamic Development Bank’s (IDB) headquarters, a spokesman of the bank has said. Indonesia's strategic position and role during the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit were two driving factors behind the decision. IDB Indonesia country director Ibrahim Shoukry said the bank had committed to investing US$1.2 billion on projects in Indonesia over five years. Indonesia, he further said, had some advantages over Turkey due to its prospective market in Asia, which is healthier than Turkey's main market, Europe. Indonesia’s market will be broader due to the ASEAN Economic Community.

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has issued a $1.5 billion five-year Sukuk as part of its $25 billion Sukuk programme. The issuance was arranged by Emirates NBD Capital, Boubyan Bank, Gulf International Bank CIMB, JP Morgan, Natixis and Standard Chartered. It will be listed in the London, Malaysia and Nasdaq Dubai stock exchanges.

Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank has set final price guidance for a dollar-denominated sukuk issue of five years duration, which it plans to sell later on Thursday. Guidance has been set at 50 basis points over midswaps. Islamic Development Bank on Wednesday opened books and set initial price thoughts in the range of mid-to-high 50s bps. The benchmark-sized offering has received orders worth $1.4 billion from investors so far, of which $190 million came from the joint lead arrangers. The sukuk offering is being arranged by Boubyan Bank, CIMB, Emirates NBD Capital, Gulf International Bank, JP Morgan, Natixis and Standard Chartered.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, said he welcomed an offer by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to organisze a financing roundtable in Abuja to mobilise more funds for investment and development of infrastructure in Nigeria. The president of the IDB, Dr Ahmed Mohammed Ali made the offer at a meeting with Buhari who is currently on an official visit to Saudi Arabia. Ali assured Buhari that the IDB would work with its traditional partners such as the Saudi Fund, the Kuwait Fund, Arab Bank for Development in Africa and the Abu Dhabi Fund, to increase the quantum of funding available to Nigeria. Buhari welcomed the plan by the IDB to fast track the take-off of the Bilingual Education Programme, aimed at integrating the Almajiri system of education with western education in Nigeria.

The government of Azerbaijan announced that it is in talks with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) on application of Islamic banking instruments in the country. Deputy Economy Minister Sahil Babayev also said that the Bank is ready to provide technical assistance to Azerbaijan, which has a predominantly Muslim population. The primary scope of our model’s project has already been outlined, he added. Azerbaijan, alongside Kazakhstan, is among several central Asian countries creating a more welcoming framework for sharia-compliant banking to attract investments and financing from the Islamic capital market. Babayev faced difficulty to name the exact date of introduction of Islamic banking model in Azerbaijan, explaining it with the number of issues to be solved.

Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will start roadshows from Sunday for a potential dollar-denominated sukuk issue for the Jeddah-based supranational institution, a document from lead arrangers showed. The AAA-rated IDB has picked Boubyan Bank, CIMB, Emirates NBD Capital, Gulf International Bank, JP Morgan, Natixis and Standard Chartered Bank to arrange the transaction, the document showed. Investor meetings will start on Sunday in Riyadh before moving to Kuala Lampur on Tuesday and concluding in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.

Guyana, which joined the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in 1998, but not the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), an organ of that group, will finally join the bank by mid-year according to Finance Minister Winston Jordan. Since Guyana is now a low-middle-income country, it cannot easily access concessionary loans from traditional lenders, and this is one reason why Guyana will join 56 other countries that are members of the IsDB. The IsDB now wants to market its product in the Caribbean and, with Guyana now poised to join, the bank will open an office in a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country.

Jordan's Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury and President of the Islamic Development Bank Ahmad Mohammad Ali have singed a $200,000 grant agreement under which the bank will finance capacity building project for societies. The agreement aims to improve the quality of life in rural areas to curb poverty, increase economic growth and integrate the poor in the local community. The total cost of the project stands at $350,000, $200,000 of which will be covered by the Islamic Development Bank while the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) will contribute $100,000 and the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development $50,000. Fakhoury stressed the need to support the plan to enable Jordan to deal with the issue of hosting Syrian refugees.

Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has chosen eight banks to arrange a potential dollar-denominated sukuk for the Jeddah-based supranational institution, sources familiar with the matter said. The AAA-rated IDB has picked Boubyan Bank, CIMB, Commerzbank, Emirates NBD, Gulf International Bank, JP Morgan, Natixis and Standard Chartered to arrange the transaction, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. The bank is planning the benchmark-sized sukuk offering in the first quarter, they added. IDB, which last issued a $1 billion five-year Islamic bond in March 2015, is looking to increase its issuance of sukuk, partly to raise its profile among international investors and to secure similar pricing levels to other development banks.

Worried by turbulent developmental challenges facing the Northern part of Nigeria, selected Governors from the northeast, northwest and north central, representing the 19 Governors of the region, will on Sunday begin a three day meeting with top executives of Islamic Development Bank (IDB), at the bank’s headquarters in Saudi Arabia. The parley deliberated on ways of tackling challenges of Agriculture, poverty, education, maternal mortality ?and other problems most prevalent in the north than any part of Nigeria. In subsequent days, the Governors will hold different meetings with the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, ITFC and the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment & Export Credit (ICIEC), Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD).

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) today agreed on wide-ranging cooperation on environmental conservation in support of sustainable development and the fight against climate change. The Memorandum of Understanding, set to run until June 2018 initially, covers objectives common to the two organizations in the areas of climate change, agriculture and food security, eco-innovation and green economy, and Islamic finance. Capacity building in member countries in all these thematic areas will be supported. The overarching goal is to facilitate the implementation of both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Togo has reportedly signed three funding agreements worth 194 million U.S. dollars with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The agreements were signed Wednesday in Jeddah during the visit to Saudi Arabia by Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe. The first agreement worth around 131 million U.S. dollars concerns the construction of Adoua-Kara road which links five regions in Togo. Its completion will enable Burkina Faso to have direct access to Lome port. The second funding agreement will go towards improving and expanding access to basic education as well as supporting concerned institutions. The third agreement concerns the energy sector. It will see 46 million dollars spent on electrification of 43 villages in northern Togo.

Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has invited banks to pitch for roles in arranging a potential dollar-denominated sukuk, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The AAA-rated IDB is planning a benchmark-sized sukuk offering in the first quarter. IDB was not immediately available for comment. IDB, which last issued a $1 billion five-year Islamic bond in March, is looking to increase its issuance of sukuk, partly to raise its profile among international investors and to secure similar pricing levels to other development banks.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) recently granted $90 million in funds to help Pakistan implement the latest step of its polio elimination program through 2018. The IDB previously promised $227 million so that Pakistan could implement various disease elimination programs until 2015. In the past year, approximately 80 percent of the world’s wild poliovirus cases were located in Pakistan. A report from the World Health Organization showed serious vaccination gaps inside South Waziristan, Peshawar, Khyber Agency, northern Sindh, Karachi, and regions in Balochistan. For Pakistan and Afghanistan to eliminate polio, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative requires that health officials step up their efforts to stop the virus from transmitting from person to person.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB ) and the New Partnership for Africa's (NEPAD) Development Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) concerning regional integration and cooperation. The MoU also concerned infrastructure, agriculture and food security, education and human capital development, climate change and natural resource management and economic and corporate governance. NEPAD aims to provide technical advisory services coupled with grant and seed funding to assist countries in their development agendas. The challenges to be addressed are access to knowledg, youth employment, sustainable rural development, adequate infrastructure and industrialization.

President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, led a high-level delegation to the “United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21)” under way in Paris, France. Addressing a side event dubbed: “Climate Change: Financing and Capacity Building Challenges”, Dr. Ali expressed his pleasure to see 51 of IDB Group member countries had submitted their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). According to Dr. Ali, the IDB Group, in 2014, launched its Renewable Energy for Poverty Reduction Program to address the energy challenges of its member countries via application of renewable energy resources.

President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, led a high-level delegation to the "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)'s 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21)" underway in Paris, France. Addressing a side event dubbed: "Climate Change: Financing and Capacity Building Challenges", Dr. Ali expressed his pleasure to see 51 of IDB Group member countries amongst the more than 180 countries had submitted their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). The IDB Group President, stated that financing and capacity building featured prominently in the INDCs as two major areas for preserving environment.

As the Shariah-compliant Islamic finance sector booms in the GCC region, the President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, asked experts in the field to develop new Islamic microfinance structures. Ali says the industry needs to leverage existing technologies and business approaches, such as mobile banking, to start developing microfinance initiatives that would support small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Ali said those actions would help local economies and cement the Islamic finance industry’s place as a leader in the global economy.
Ali’s remarks came at a conference in Kuwait entitled "Islamic Finance: Meeting Global Aspirations." There, Ali told the assembled financial professionals that Islamic microfinance would facilitate the inclusion of more people from various income brackets into the financial industry and provide greater access to financing, grow small local businesses and contribute to financial stability.

There is, however, some risk with lending money to inexperienced business owners. That means that on top of providing Islamic microfinancing, the banking industry needs to help educate and guide SMEs.

A new international bond and grant scheme to help countries dealing with the fallout of war and instability in the Middle East and North Africa should be in place by spring, a senior World Bank official said.
In a Reuters interview, Hafez Ghanem, the World Bank's vice president for the Middle East and North Africa, said the type of investment targeted by the plan - education, infrastructure and jobs - was vital to addressing the region's refugee crises. He said that humanitarian aid alone was not enough and the alternative was “one or two lost generations” in a region with 15 million refugees or internally displaced people.

The Islamic Development Bank wants to use Islamic bonds to help finance the reconstruction of countries ravaged by conflict, with the World Bank as a potential joint issuer, the head of the multilateral lender said.
Refugee and reconstruction financing is a priority for the Jeddah-based IDB, which last month launched an initiative with the World Bank and United Nations to help more than 15 million people displaced across the region.
Work is now underway to identify specific projects for the initiative, with a priority on war torn Yemen, which could see the IDB and World Bank as issuers of the sukuk.
"We need to finalize this with the World Bank, but most likely it will be a joint issuance", IDB president Ahmad Mohamed Ali said on the sidelines of an industry conference in Kuwait.
The IDB, which operates to promote economic development in Muslim communities, has 56 member countries including Saudi Arabia, Libya and Iran as its largest shareholders.