IslamicFinance.de

ABOUT YPP:

The Young Professionals Program (YPP) is the strategic talent pipeline for the professional career in the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group. The Program is designed for outstanding young graduates who can significantly help the IDB Group to carry out its mission and attain its objectives.

This Program enables each Young Professional (YP) to receive extensive exposure and experience of the IDB Group’s various activities through job rotations in different departments. Participants will initially spend two weeks Orientation stage in HRMD. Then, 27 months in Foundation stage which will be split into three rotations of 9 months each in IDB Group departments.

Participants will also benefit from a coaching/mentoring arrangement and a wide range of relevant training and developmental opportunities.

Upon successful program completion, the participant will gradually climb up the professional grades in the IDB Group

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The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector ( ICD ) and Chad's Ministry of Finance and Budget have signed a partnership agreement aiming at the creation of a local leasing company (ijara) and a local Islamic bank compliant to the principles of Islamic finance. The two future entities -- leasing company and Islamic bank -- will provide Shariah-compliant financial services and products with a special focus on the SME sector. Through this agreement, ICD will contribute to promote the development of Islamic finance and support SMEs. Minister of Finance and Budget of Chad Atteib Doutoum thanked the ICD and reaffirmed his full support to make the private sector a key player in the economic development of the country. He then promised to provide the necessary support of his Ministry to implement the two financial institutions.

The African Guarantee Fund (AGF), reportedly has agreed to guarantee an unspecified portion of KES 100 million (USD 1.2 million) to be loaned by Gulf African Bank (GAB) to SMEs in Kenya. After the signing of the agreement, GAB Managing Director Asad Ahmed reportedly expressed his belief that the deal will help to increase the bank’s financing and risk management capabilities. AGF was established in Kenya in June 2012 with initial capital sufficient to issue partial guarantees of loans totaling USD 50 million. AGF has branches in nine African countries as of March 2013. As of March 2011, GAB had total assets of KES 9.6 billion (USD 112.3 million) and customer deposits of KES 8.2 billion (USD 96 million).

Kenya's only Shariah-compliant insurer Takaful Insurance of Africa Ltd (TIA) plans to expand its operations into five East African nations, according to its Chief Executive Officer Hassan Bashir. Under TIA’s five-year plan it will expand into Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia and the autonomously governed enclave of Somaliland, where it was granted a license this year. CIC Insurance Group (CIC) is one of the largest investors in TIA with about 22 percent, while four investment companies also have stakes. In Kenya, TIA has four outlets and 80 agents in Nairobi and Mombasa. The company plans to add at least two more outlets this year and double the number of agents, Bashir said.

La Mauritanie compte un nouvel établissement bancaire avec la création de la Banque Mouamalat Assahiha (BMS) qui travaille exclusivement avec les produits de la finance islamique. La nouvelle banque est dotée d’un capital de 20 millions de dollars américains, soit six milliards d’ouguiyas. La BMS opère conformément aux principes de la Charia (loi islamique) en matière de transaction financière. Il s’agit d’une banque universelle d’investissement qui s’adresse à la fois aux entreprises et aux particuliers. La Mauritanie compte actuellement 18 banques à capitaux nationaux et étrangers dont cinq institutions de financement islamique.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reviewed the Anti Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Regulation to align with international best practise as well as other anti laundering and terrorism acts of the country. The CBN said it aims to ensure that with the cooperation of operators and stakeholders in the Nigerian financial sector, the reviewed Regulations meet international best practice and FATF requirements. In view of this, it called for contributions and comments from relevant stakeholders on the draft review prior to gazetting and release of the document to the industry. CBN has commenced full implementation of its gazetted Anti Money Laundering and Combating Financing Terrorism (AML/CFT) Risk Based Supervision (RBS) framework enunciated in 2011.

The President of the Islamic Development Bank Group, Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali has stressed that the IDB would cooperate with the Government of Somalia in a bid to rebuild and consolidate the public finance institutions through various methods such as staff training and transfer of knowledge and technology from IDB member countries. He also said that the IDB would assist the Government in the fields of Islamic banking and finance and improve legislation on investment so that the private sector can play its role in economic and social development. IDB's future activities in Somalia would be geared toward building government institutions, restoring basic services and improving infrastructure he added.

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) said yesterday that it has assessed the deposit liabilities of Jaiz Bank Plc, and that in a couple of weeks, the bank will start paying premium as insurance cover for its depositors. NDIC Managing Director/CEO Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim said the premium collected from the bank would be invested in non-interest bearing instruments. A sensitisation workshop for NDIC solicitors was organized to educate the legal team because excessive litigations remained a major challenge to developing formidable deposit insurance system in the country. According to him, other challenges are the lack of proper understanding of the distinction in the legal status of NDIC as liquidator and deposit insurer by legal practitioners, the court and the public at large.

The National Insurance Commission has released takaful guidelines which state that applicants seeking permits to conduct takaful transactions must own the certificate of registration as a fully-fledged takaful company. The guidelines also state that the company's name must contain words or terminologies that imply takaful operations. In addition, companies must at all times keep a minimum deposit in a non-interest financial institution.

The Islamic division of South Africa's First National Bank has hired a new sharia advisory committee and aims to rebrand itself. The new committee consists of Aznan Hasan, Yusus Patel and Zaid Haspatel. According to the chief executive of the Islamic business, Amman Muhammad, they will no longer be called board, but “sharia advisory committee” and their role is clearly defined. He added that the new team would review the bank's previous sharia products. FNB's previous sharia board resigned last July after disagreements over the board's role when new management took charge of the división. Under the new structure, the committee will no longer play a role in the day-to-day running of the business, removing the potential for conflicts.

Jaiz Bank Plc has commenced operations in Gombe State, is now located in four states in Nigeria. In the next four years, the bank plans to be in all the 36 states of the federation. Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank, Alhaji Umru Mutallab emphasized the bank’s desire to make positive contributions in the society as well as to provide access to innovative channels of financing as alternatives to interest-based systems. He assured that the bank was opened to all irrespective of race or religion.

Bahrain-based Al Baraka Bank wants its new five-year global expansion strategy to put more emphasis on Africa, particularly North Africa. The bank already has ventures in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Its goal is to grow group assets and income almost twofold in the next five years. This five-year expansion plan will certainly include investments in Libya and Morocco. The bank could splurge up to $100 million this year in Libya. In Morocco, the financial services firm will launch a separate operation with a $100 million initial capital outlay within 12 months. Moreover, the group is thinking about having an Al Baraka Bank Africa brand presence.

Kenya-based Takaful Insurance of Africa Ltd. plans to expand into five East African countries, including Tanzania, Somalia, Uganda, Ethiopia and the self-declared sovereign state Somaliland, as part of the insurer's plans for the 2013-2017 period, CEO Hassan Bashir said.

Takaful Insurance of Africa Ltd. plans to expand its operations into Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia and the autonomously governed enclave of Somaliland under its five-year plan 2013-2017. In Kenya, Takaful Insurance has four outlets and 80 agents in Nairobi and Mombasa. The company plans to add at least two more outlets this year and double the number of agents, according to its CEO Hassan Bashir. Takaful’s premiums totaled 430 million shillings last year.

According to the Governor of the Central Bank, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, banks in Nigeria will be required to appoint at least 30 per cent female board members and 40 per cent management staff by 2014. The decision was taken with a view to stimulating women's participation in development and nation building. He added that this year every bank must publish its gender positions, when they publish their statement of accounts. The Central Bank will not be exempted from this. Moreover, Mallam Sanusi lamented the high rate of school drop-outs in the North where over 70 per cent of girls cannot read.

Jaiz Bank Plc has announced the appointment of the General Manager in charge of the Bank’s Business Development Group, Hassan Usman as the Acting Managing Director. Hassan is a trained Chartered Accountant and a seasoned Banker with international experience. The appointment follows the resignation of the Managing Director, Muhammed Mustapha Bintube after almost 10 years of service. Jaiz commenced operations on the January 6, 2012, in three locations, Abuja, Kano and Kaduna with additional branches opening soon in Maiduguri, Gombe and Katsina.

Takaful Insurance of Africa is banking on product diversification and opening of more shops to establish itself better in the region. The insurer has already acquired an operating licence from the Retirement Benefits Authority to start a Shariah-compliant pension scheme while the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) allowed it to transact long-term insurance business or family Takaful known in conventional insurance as life insurance. Moreover, TIA is planning its expansion, especially in regions of Kenya with a high Muslim population. The company posted profits of Sh26 million for the year 2012.

The two Islamic banks in Kenya posted growth in their profits last year as the faith-based banking concept becomes entrenched in the country's financial sector. Gulf African Bank and First Community Bank were able to break even in a fairly short time — Gulf African in two years and First Community in three years. Last year, Gulf African registered 154 per cent after-tax profit growth to Sh242 million. First Community Bank, on its part, recorded 239 per cent growth in profit-after-tax to Sh241.3 million last year. According to the Central Bank, by December 31, 2010, the two Islamic finance banks collectively commanded 0.9 per cent of the banking sector net loans and advances of $115 million (Sh9.7 billion) and deposits of $171 million (14.5 billion).

Insurance professionals have confirmed that, contrary to their expectation, consumers of takaful insurance, targeted at Muslims in the Northern part of the country, consist more of Christians from the South-East extraction. Moreover, the Vice Chairman of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) Oyo State Chapter, Mr. Babatunde Omosola, confirmed that takaful insurance products have been doing well in the market because they meet the needs of low income earners including motorcyclists, teachers and farmers, and very simple too. Meanwhile, the President of CIIN, Mr. Wole Adetimehin, has reassured that the institute would remain focused in its support the industry by building the necessary human capital to grow the industry.

Cotonou will hold a two-day 'Islamic Development Bank (IDB) days' from Tuesday to strengthen cooperation between the bank and Beninese public and private stakeholders. The event aims particularly at familiarizing the Beninese public and private stakeholders with the different policies and actions implemented by the IDB group in the country. The assistance covers various areas such as education, health, agriculture, infrastructure and environment. For this year, the bank's projects include a the Tovegbamè bridge for which US$9 million has been approved and US$120 million for a basic education project. The bank will also give technical assistance and donations to flood victims in Benin.