IslamicFinance.de

On Tuesday afternoon, Caretaker Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, Sheikh Jassim Ben Hamad Al Thani and Board of Directors' President of the Qatar Investment Bank "Qinvest" and Qatar International Islamic Bank had a conference. The meeting enabled examination of the means likely to boost co-operation between the Tunisian government and the Qatari banks in terms of finance and infrastructures. The key role of dollar denominated sukuk issuance was pointed out.

Following the example of other North African countries, Morocco is working on the draft of a law aiming to allow the sale of Islamic bonds. Thus, the country makes efforts to lure more investors to their debt after the surge of global sukuk offerings reached record amounts. The bill will be put to parliament immediately after the completion of the draft. Details on the exact time when this is to be expected are not revealed. Other two African countries - Tunisia and Egypt - are working on draft laws concerning sukuk sales as well.

The moderate Islamists-led government of Tunisia makes plans to issue sukuks worth 1 billion dinars ($634 million) in the coming year. Thus, the country will be using this financial sector for the first time in order to fund public borrowing. Chadli Ayari, the governor of the Central Bank, prompted that the issuance is t be expected at the beginning of 2013. Just as several other government in North Africa, Tunisia has waken up after last year's Arab Spring to see and make use of the strong growth potential in the Islamic banking sector.

Notable growth in the takaful industry from Islamic countries in North Africa is expected due to the changes in the political environment there. Islamic governments in countries like Libya, Tunisia and Egypt will most probably make a huge contribution to the global takaful market. Needless to say, conventional insurance will be overruled. With $11.8 million, the African takaful industry already ranks third worldwide.

Tunisia's ruling party has set to turning Tunisia into a regional centre for Sharia-compliant finance. However, critics claim that by putting scarce resources into the sector the economy could be harmed. People suspect that the leading motives of the governments initiatives are political rather than economic and that they mostly endeavour to win the support of voters. Even though change in policy might benefit the economy of Northern African countries after the Arab Spring by enabling access to a huge pool of Islamic investment funds from the Gulf, Tunisia faces serious political complications.

After a long time of secular rule, the Tunisian government intends to develop Islamic banking. However, there are discussions on whether the leading motive is economic or rather political. Some people see that the initiative as an effort to win the support of voters. On one hand, change of policy is possible to bring economic benefits because the country would have more access to a huge pool of Islamic investment funds from the Gulf. On the other hand, there are some political complications in Tunisia.

The Tunis Financial Harbour (TFH) project by Gulf Finance House's (GFH) has received back-up from Tunisian Investment and International Co-operation Minister Riadh Bettaieb. The commitment is in the form of a high profile delegation from the Islamic investment bank GFH, including a meeting between acting chief executive Hisham Alrayes, TFH chief executive Lutfi Alzaar, and the minister. Minister Bettaieb assured that his government will do its best to support the project's development according to plan in co-operation with TFH. Mr Alrayes expressed his opinion, that the enefits to be expected from TFH are far beyond the ordinary for Tunisia as well as for GFH and their investors.

See more on: http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=339234

Tunisian central bank intends to issue Islamic bonds early next year, according to the central bank governor. Finance ministry, religious affairs ministry and the central bank have set up committees that are currently working on an Islamic finance law in order to strengthen the Islamic banking in the country.

See more under: http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/2012100112595/Finance/central-b...

The central bank governor of Tunisian Central Bank has announced country's plan to issue Islamic bonds early 2013. Tunisian government is currently working on an Islamic finance law that should constitute Islamic banking in Tunisia, where at the moment only two Islamic banks exist. The law is going to be prepared within two weeks, after which the Government of Tunisia will decide whether to legislate it or not.

See more under: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/54296/Business/Economy/Tuni...

Islamic finance has considerably grown in North Africa, with many Middle East financial institutions investing in the region. There has also been significant development in the south of the continent. Though there is a low Muslim population in South Africa, the government has been one of the front-runners to make it a centre for Islamic finance in Africa. South Africa is the most advanced African nation in terms of robust legislative structures, strict governance structures, and regulations. This gives it an advantage in implementing Shariah-compliant financial systems.

S&P Indices made an anouncement that a new Index will be launched due to increase in the demand for a shariah-compliant benchmark in Islamic countries. The new S&P/OIC COMCEC 50 Shariah Index will measure the performance of 50 leading Shariah-compliant companies from members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Eligible countries and territories for the Index are: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

It seems that the Tunisian government has assembled a working group that will analyze how to develop Islamic finance in the country and that will look at the country's legal framework.
The group contains representatives from the central bank, stock exchange and private sector institutions including Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group.

Tunisia's Islamist government is planning to launch the country's first Islamic bonds (sukuk) this year in order to finance its budget deficit following last year's uprising.
Adnan Ahmed Yousif, chief executive of Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group, an Islamic banking conglomerate with operations across North Africa, added that the government is now in talks with banks.

Interim Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali noted that the Tunisian Government will try to establish a legal framework to manage the Islamic economy in Tunisia. He added that the country wants to become a regional centre of Islamic finance.
Moreover, he attested that Islamic banks can provide part of these funds.
IDB President Ahmed Mohamed Ali stated the Bank wishes to see the Tunisian private sector play a more significant role in implementation of the bank's projects in Tunisia and Africa.

Gulf Finance House (GFH) has officially stated that the Tunis Financial Harbour (TFH) has started the prequalification process for prospective contractors.
This comes after an announcement made by the Tunisia government that it supports the TFH project. The project is arranged to be built in the Rawad Area. TFH is going to be North Africa's very first offshore financial centre, helping to transforme the region's economy.

Various providers stated that the demand for Shariah-compliant PRI in MENA countries has increased significantly. Ravi Vish, director and chief economist of MIGA, also confirmed that request for political risk insurance (PRI) has increased to unprecedented levels, with PRI supply by members of the Berne Union remaining robust and pricing reflecting a buyer's market.
In the Arab Spring countries investors are waiting to see what the future will bring.
Moreover, a 2011 survey by MIGA-EIU showed that the turmoil in the Arab countries did have a significant impact on investor intentions. Violence and government instability are major factors putting off investors, who confirmed that they have not forseen the events in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya which frankly took them by surprise.

Ahmad Mohamed Ali, the president of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), has given notice that the euro zone sovereign debt crisis is adversely affecting the Bank's member countries and urged European leaders to find the right solutions and not to repeat the mistakes of the past.
He explained at the "Islamic Finance on the 21st Century" symposium which was held in Madrid on Dec. 1 that Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria are very much affected as exports begin to decline because of the credit crunch and economic situation in the European Union (EU).

The effects of the ‘Arab Spring’ in North Africa may have presented fantastic opportunities for Islamic finance according to Patrick AbiHabib of Arab Banking Corporation.
He explained that the transitional authorities in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt have expressed their support for the Islamic banking sector, and Libya had set about changing the country’s financial regulation to give permission to the new government to raise money from the Islamic capital markets, taking the country’s Islamic banking regulations to the next level.

BIC/MENA and civil society representatives from Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Yemen among others successfully engaged the World Bank at the 2011 Civil Society Policy Forum of the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings.
Egyptian civil society representatives met with Egypt’s World Bank country director, David Craig. Tunisian civil society representatives have insisted for engagement with Bank in first meeting with ED, Mr. Javed Talat. Civil society representatives met the Bank’s new Yemen country manager, Wael Zakout.

Tunisia is trying to become a centre of Islamic finance in the Maghreb, especially taking in consideration the newly liberated political atmosphere and developing free market.
The July 15th-16th conference had the main focus on Islamic banking and innovation and training in the emerging field.
Tunisian Finance Minister Jelloul Ayed announced that currently 96% of financial resources from Islamic banking are invested outside Muslim states, something he considered a lost opportunity.