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The Omani-Australian partnership Al Hadeetha Resources has secured funding to the tune of RO 10 million from Alizz Islamic Bank, which will support the financing of the formers copper-gold project. Australian-based mining firm Alara Resources is a majority investor in the project, which centres on the commercialization of an estimated 16 million tons of copper. These new financing arrangements signify another key milestone for the flagship Al Hadeetha Copper-Gold project in Oman. The funds will be used to procure major equipment for the copper processing plant at Washihi. Meanwhile, Al Hadeetha Resources has named Chinese state-owned enterprise China National Geological & Mining Corporation (CGM) as its Engineering Procurement Construction contractor. The project is expected to come into operation by Q1 2021.

In this interview Adnan Ahmed Yousif, President & Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group reviews the group’s 2019 results. Overall, Al Baraka Bank maintained its healthy financial performance despite the lower-income. However, Al Baraka's adherence to its conservative approach to set aside hedging provisions for all its units resulted in a 14% decrease in net income attributable to shareholders during the third quarter. In 2019 the bank launched the Al Baraka Global API website, a step towards innovation in open banking. Al Baraka Banking Group also inaugurated a new fintech company which focuses on e-payments ‘alneo’ in Turkey through its Turkish subsidiary. The bank’s units opened six new branches, taking the total number of branches to 703. Yousif is planning to enter new markets in the coming period through the presence in the Indonesian and Chinese markets, expansion in East Asia, as well as Africa.

Global Sukuk issuances witnessed a 25.6% hike last year from 2018 numbers, with foreign currency issuances leaping 20.8%. This was driven by high levels of liquidity in Indonesia, good performance in Malaysia, Turkey's efforts to tap all available financing sources and the return of some GCC issuers to the market. According to S&P, total Sukuk issuance for 2020 is expected to reach $160 billion-170 billion this year, including $40 billion-$45 billion of foreign currency issuance. The research and ratings agency added that ample global liquidity and negative yields on more than $10 trillion of debt mean that issuers with a good credit story will find relatively easy entry to the Sukuk market this year. S&P pointed out several global themes that bode well for Islamic finance, technological innovation, sustainable investments and diversification, will continue to open the market to new players particularly small and midsize issuers.

Al Baraka Islamic Bank organized an art exhibition for talented employees of the Bank as well as for the staff of Al Baraka Banking Group. The Art exhibition took place on 28th January 2020 at the Al Baraka Headquarters in Bahrain Bay. Al Baraka Group President Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif said the exhibition aimed to explore the historical legacies of Bahrain, from traditional crafts, industry and pop culture to modernism’s forms, including art and architecture there by encouraging the talented employees. He further stated that some of the paintings would be selected for use in the Group’s calendars and greeting cards.

INJAZ Bahrain has endeavored to develop its first mobile application with the support of Al Salam Bank-Bahrain, K-Labs and Inforise IT. The application will offer an enhanced registration experience by enabling new joiners, volunteers and alumni to choose among a list of programs offered by INJAZ Bahrain in collaboration with public and private schools. The application will also provide INJAZ Bahrain’s privileged volunteers with reward points based on their contributed volunteering hours towards youth development. The INJAZ Bahrain application will be available for both Android and IOS users by June of this year. In an aim to expand youth education and economic development, INJAZ Bahrain is leveraging mobile to harness digital innovation to improve the learning process and encourage more volunteers to join its programs.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has provided $87 million to help finance two deals in the United Kingdom that are valued more than $200 million. One of the clients is based in Abu Dhabi and plans to refinance a prime central London healthcare facility worth 900 million UAE dirhams ($245 million). The other client is a Bahrain-based company who plans to acquire a logistics hub in Edinburgh worth 55 million UAE dirhams ($15 million). The London property is operated by an international healthcare group. The Edinburgh property, let to Royal Mail, consists of an office facility and a distribution warehouse situated in Scotland.

Boubyan Bank had received valid acceptances in respect of a total of 73,263,270 BLME Shares. On 27 January 2020, Boubyan Bank announced that all conditions to the offer were either satisfied or waived and the offer became unconditional. The offer will remain open for acceptances until 1.00 p.m. (London time) on 19 February 2020. Following completion of the offer, Boubyan Bank intends that BLME will continue to operate as a standalone group within the wider Boubyan Bank business.

Al Baraka Bank Egypt is establishing a digital bank, as it decided to increase the capital to EGP 5 billion through 3 years abiding by the Central Bank of Egypt's (CBE) new act. The bank injected EGP 1.7 billion joint funding to the national projects aiming to reach EGP 5 billion in 2023, as well as it will provide in principles 100 Automated Teller Machines (ATM), targeting to reach 200 ATMs during the upcoming period.

The Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC), a subsidiary of the Saudi Public Investment Fund signed an agreement with Bank Aljazira to buy a SAR 250 million mortgage portfolio. The two entities signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that allows SRC to buy more mortgage portfolios from the bank. SRC seeks to inject more liquidity into the Saudi mortgage sector through the acquisition of mortgage portfolios. Bank Aljazira’s net profit increased by 3.8% to SAR 256.9 million in Q3-19, compared to SAR 247.4 million in Q3-18.

Boubyan Bank has reported net profit of KD 62.7 million in 2019, at a growth rate of 12% compared to 2018, with an earnings per share of 20.4 fils compared to 19.2 fils in 2018. Boubyan Bank CEO Adel Abdul Wahab Al-Majed said that the total equity of the bank increased to KD 575 million by the end of 2019 and the operating income increased to KD 146 million. The year 2019 witnessed the introduction of many new services and products. All-new smart phone Apps were launched in addition to the issuance, activation and use of the virtual prepaid card through Boubyan App. Additionally, the bank earned its verified badge in WhatsApp business and successfully integrated the bank’s Chatbot service, Msa3ed, with WhatsApp business.

According to the 2019 Islamic Finance Consumer Report from Gatehouse Bank, several new faith-based lending or savings accounts have been launched in the UK, but only 54% of Muslim consumers have tried any of them. Gatehouse Bank CEO Charles Haresnape sees that most people don’t really understand Islamic finance, even Muslims don’t understand it. He said that Gatehouse is intent on developing the Islamic finance sector in Britain. Haresnape predicts growth for the UK Islamic finance market, driven by the country’s expanding young Muslim population, but said awareness and education would be key factors in driving uptake.

The UK Islamic finance sector holds an estimated £15 billion ($19 billion) of assets, the largest outside the Middle East and Asia. The Gatehouse Bank is intent on developing the Islamic finance sector in Britain.

A strategic partnership agreement had been signed, between Kuwait Finance House (KFH) and Entrepreneur Magazine. (KFH) asumes that they will sponsor the Entrepreneur platform for Kuwait with “Entrepreneur Middle East” which specializes in business entrepreneurship and young people’s initiatives.

Following the conclusion of its General Assembly Meeting, Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) announced that the assembly has approved the acquisition of Noor Bank. With this acquisition, DIB is set to position itself as one of the largest Islamic Banks in the world with total assets exceeding AED 275 billion. Furthermore, this move will strengthen Dubai’s position as a global centre for Islamic finance. In addition to being the first and largest Islamic bank in the UAE, DIB has a significant international presence as a torchbearer in promoting Shari’ah-compliant financial services. The Bank’s ultimate goal is to make Islamic finance the norm, rather than an alternative to conventional banking worldwide.

Winner of the 2019 Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Prize in Islamic Economics, Dr. Mabid Al-Jarhi, has delivered a lecture on the gains of switching from conventional to Islamic Finance. He argues that mainstream economics has many limitations, and therefore economists need to be able to identify the weaknesses and propose alternative frameworks. The principles of Islamic Economics provide such a framework. Prohibiting interest on money is not sufficient from an Islamic Finance point of view. Financing through trade contributes to addressing the inefficiency arising from search for trade partners. Together, prohibition of interest and financing through trade would improve allocation of resources in the economy. Dr. Al-Jarhi warns that there is a lot to be done to have a proper Islamic financial system in place. Proper regulations and governance are neccessary to address other kinds of inefficiencies arising from partnership of equity financing.

The Arab Federation of Exchanges (AFE) has been working on launching a development strategy to localise financial technology and sustainable development, declaring 2020 the year of sustainability in Arab stock exchanges. “Reforming the home from within” is the approach taken by the AFE’s Secretary General since taking over the secretariat last year. The most important change was the adoption of a new system for the AFE to restructure its board of directors. The AFE also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Financial Technology Corporation in the Middle East and North Africa, and there will be a kind of joint training for financial technology. Last year the AFE managed to expand the federation’s membership base, it currently includes 21 active members, with 17 stock exchanges and four clearing companies.

According to UN resident co-ordinator and UN Secretary General’s representative in Bahrain Amin El Sharkawi, the world needs financing of about $5 trillion each year to make the necessary progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Discussions are on to set up a Bahrain-UN trust fund where banks can contribute to projects that focus on education, health coverage, access to energy, social housing and environmental protection. Mr El Sharkawi was speaking on the sidelines of the first General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI)-United Nations joint forum themed The Role of Islamic Finance in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals: Opportunities and Challenges. The first day of the forum was concluded with the third session titled Zakat and Waqf as Tools for Financial Inclusion and Shared Prosperity.

Al Salam Bank-Seychelles (ASBS) has announced the appointment of Alhur Mohammed Al Suwaidi as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Al Suwaidi currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors and brings over 15 years of experience in investment strategy to the role. Mr. Al Suwaidi also serves with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, where he has held various positions since 2004. Mr. Al Suwaidi has also served on a number of advisory boards of General Partners. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Chapman University, California, USA.

Malaysia-based International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM) has reissued A-1 short term sukuk worth $600 million in two series. The reissuance came in the form of $300 million with 1-month tenor at a profit rate of 1.85% and $300 million with 3-month tenor at a profit rate of 1.91%. Primary dealers include Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Barwa Bank, Boubyan Bank, Kuwait Finance House and Qatar Islamic Bank. The non-GCC banks that participated in the reissuance include Maybank Islamic, Standard Chartered Bank, Al Baraka Turk and CIMB Bank. The demand for the 1-month and 3-month Sukuk series reached a bid-to-cover ratio of 208%, and 255%, respectively.

The 2019 edition of the Islamic Banking Index by Emirates Islamic demonstrates significant progress made by the Islamic banking sector. Islamic banking penetration has reached its highest level since the inception of the Index five years ago. The Islamic Banking Index is a benchmark survey revealing the progress, penetration and perception of the Shari’a-compliant banking sector in the UAE. The 2019 edition indicates that the sector continues to widen its appeal to an increasing number of both Muslim and non-Muslim customers. Knowledge of Islamic banking terminology has not seen clear improvement, but has risen for some products, such as Takaful, that have become successful in the financial sector. Perception of Islamic banks has improved steadily, with significant improvements in key areas relating to technology and customer service.