IslamicFinance.de

The growth of low-cost carrier flydubai is almost double compared to its launch in October 2010 in Pakistan despite heavy competition and slump in the industry.
The aviation industry has an important role in strengthening ties between UAE and Pakistan, which is evident from the growing number of air travellers between both countries.
The event was organised at Karachi Expo Centre parallel to UAE Expo 2011.

The National Treasury invited on 6th December banking institutions to submit proposals for the provision
of advisory services for the structuring and issuance of a government Islamic bond (“Sukuk”) in
the local and international markets.
The invitation is in line with the National Treasury’s intention to diversify its funding and
investor base.
“There is a great interest in the SUKUK market and this is the first step towards meeting the
growing appetite for government backed Shariah compliant investments” said Lungisa Fuzile,
Director General of the National Treasury.
Interested service providers are expected to submit proposals by close of business (RSA time)
on or before 21st December 2011. Shortlisted bidders will be informed by 20th January 2012.
ENDS

Further Information:

Request for Proposal (RFP):
http://www.treasury.gov.za/comm_media/press/2011/RFP%20-%20TOR%20Islamic...

Annexure to RFP:
http://www.treasury.gov.za/comm_media/press/2011/Annexure%20A%20-%20Suku...

It seems that although the planned introduction of Sukuk in Kenya is foreseen to expand the opportunities available in the capital market, fund managers stated that its impact will not be significant unless the Sukuk represent tangible assets to allow trading, or are deliberately structured to have a short maturity if they represent receivables of cash.
In Kenya, fund managers are used to trading bonds with commercial banks and will be searching for similar opportunities from Sukuk issues.

It is expected that Islamic finance assets around the world will climb 33 percent from their 2010 levels to 1.1 trillion US dollars by the end of 2012, boosted by the aftermath of the Arab Spring uprisings and dissatisfaction with conventional finance in the wake of the global debt crisis. The statement came from consultants from Ernst & Young.
Growth in the Middle East and North Africa will be particularly strong, with assets rising to a forseen $990 billion by 2015 from $416 billion in 2010, as new countries open up to Islamic finance.

The prime theme of this event will be the impact of the recent rapid changes on the
Islamic finance sector in all pertinent aspects. The Conference will consider the
spectacular political and socio-economic developments that we have been witnessing and
their probable effects on the performance and future position of Islamic financial
institutions (IFI’s), the regulatory set-ups, and popularity of Islamic products being
offered to the public, governments and business firms.

The Conference is being organised by Emerald Group Publishing, the world’s leading
scholarly publisher of journals and books on business and management. Over 220
academic journals are currently published by Emerald, covering some 24 managerial
disciplines, in addition to a strong and growing presence in other related fields such as
LIS, social sciences, and engineering.

This Conference follows on the success of the Global Islamic Marketing Conference held
in Dubai over the period 20-22 March 2011, organised by Emerald in association with the
United Arab Emirates University.

Conference Objective

The chief objective of the forthcoming Conference is to assess the future of this sector,

The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), wishes Islamic finance institutions to take responsibility for upgrading the skills level among their staff to guarantee that accounting standards in Shari'ah compliant companies are up to international financial reporting standards.
Kenya has experienced real growth in Islamic finance and questions are being asked on the availability of talent that comprehends Shari'ah compliant financial processes.
Kenya's Islamic finance industry consists of two banks and an insurance company plus several Shari'ah compliant windows of about a dozen conventional banks.

The Islamic Development Bank’s community development workshop has the purpose to empower Muslim NGOs in different parts of the world by offering them necessary training to boost their leadership skills.
Prominent leaders of Muslim organizations and institutions in 14 countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, c and the Philippines who had come to the Kingdom to perform Haj this year, including professor Siddique Hassan, vice president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, will be included in the program.

UNESCO works in education, the sciences, culture and communication and information. Recently it lost a substantial portion of funding as the newspapers reported (see for details: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15527534 ). It is worth considering how to support the UNESCO and their goals:

"UNESCO works to create the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, based upon respect for commonly shared values. It is through this dialogue that the world can achieve global visions of sustainable development encompassing observance of human rights, mutual respect and the alleviation of poverty, all of which are at the heart of UNESCO’S mission and activities.

The broad goals and concrete objectives of the international community – as set out in the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – underpin all UNESCO’s strategies and activities. Thus UNESCO’s unique competencies in education, the sciences, culture and communication and information contribute towards the realization of those goals.

Although Libya is Africa's biggest oil producer, it will still have to borrow money for the reconstruction of its infrastructure and one source the new government is considering to be the Islamic capital markets.
Bloomberg stated that the financial regulator has, under instruction from the interim government, arranged a committee with the country's leading banks to change the financial laws to grant permission to the issue of Sukuk.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has hired an Allen & Overy lawyer as its first-ever global head of Islamic finance.
Tarek El-Assra is the new counsel in the firm’s Dubai office.
The appointment comes after the news less than a month ago that partner Pervez Akhtar, hired from A&O in December, had been promoted to the role of regional managing partner for the Middle East and North Africa.

It seems that the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) set an agreement with a German agency, GIZ, to conduct a study of micro and Takaful (Islamic) insurance products in Nigeria. The statement came from Mr. Fola Daniel, NAICOM Commissioner for Insurance.
He added that the gesture is part of NAICOM’s drive to open up and expand insurance market at the grassroots and that this was also a way to increase the sector’s contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Global leaders point way to economic recovery at UN summit

Gordon Brown, Mary Robinson and global CEOs call for sustainable financial sector reform

Washington D.C., 20 October 2011 – With economic recovery topping the United States and global political agenda, a group of CEOs, major investors and bankers together with former United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President of Ireland Mary Robinson called for a far-reaching reform of the global financial system at a summit which ended in Washington D.C. today.

Amid a growing wave of protests highlighting economic concerns in countries from the US to the UK, Japan and Greece, more than 500 senior finance executives and policy-makers from around the world met at the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative Global Roundtable (UNEP FI) summit to find sustainable solutions to tackle the drivers of market volatility and address the deepening rift between the rich and the poor.

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Because of the ongoing unrest in North Africa and the Middle East, many investors from Gulf countries have been directed to Turkey.
Hussain Alqemzi, Noor Islamic Bank’s chief executive officer, stated that the Noor Islamic Bank has been assigned to arrange and manage more than $1.4 billion Islamic finance capital market deals in Turkey in the last 18 months, becoming the most active United Arab Emirate bank in the country.
The total trade volume between Turkey and the six member states of the GCC, Bahrain, Kuwait Oman, Qatar, United Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, reached approximately more than $17 billion last year.

Changes are planned in the financial regulations of Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. These will permit a launch of Sukuk and are allocated to deliver a rebound in the international Sukuk market, a market that has been declining since 2008.
The latest Global Sukuk Market report released by the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) shows that Africa accounted for only 0.3% of global Sukuk launches in the decade ending December 2010, all of which came from Sudan with some miniscule activity in The Gambia.
The report also adds that issuance trend displays that Islamic countries will continue to be the main drivers of the Sukuk market in the coming years while others from Europe, Africa, Central Asian Republics and the Far East may join if they see opportunity and advantage in issuing Sukuk.

In its new publication, Islamic Banking and Finance in North Africa, the African Development Bank assesses the state of Islamic banking in the region and explains why its use has been limited. The report considers the future potential of Islamic finance, including its possible alignment with North Africa’s development goals, particularly its ability to increase the diversification of funding sources.

The report takes into consideration the effect of Islamic banking’s focus on the equitable distribution of risk and returns between suppliers and users of funds. Islamic Banking and Finance in North Africa goes further by exploring whether Islamic-style finance contracts could contribute to the development objectives of North African countries.

full report for free download: http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Project-and-Operati...

African Development Bank presents in a report the reason why the use of Islamic banking in the region has been limited. First, it takes into consideration the effect of Islamic banking's focus on the equitable distribution of risk and returns between suppliers and users of funds and the future potential of Islamic finance, including its possible alignment with North Africa's development goals, particularly its ability to increase the diversification of funding sources.

It is possible that the Commonwealth of Independent States will become the next frontier for Islamic finance. At this point, six Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kirgizstan and Tajikistan are members of the CIS. Moreover, Russia has also 20m indigenous Muslims in Russia, mostly concentrated in the semi-autonomous Caucasus provinces of Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan.
Although the relationship between Russia and its Muslims wasn't very good, it has started to make concerted efforts to reach out to Turkey, Iran and the Arab nations to the south and Pakistan, Malaysia and the Islamic democracies of South East Asia.

Junaid Ahmed, President & CEO Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan Limited, revealed the prospects of finding shari’a compliant solutions in the banking industry in an interview given to Profit.
He stated that DIBPL has always looked for its strength in its slogan and being the first Islamic Bank of the world and having a global presence in the UAE, Jordan, Turkey, Sudan and Bosnia, the bank is in a position to present the best mix of banking services to their customers.

It seems that Barclays Capital will have its attention on growing its liquidity management and risk management businesses as the Islamic bond market continues to have problems because of global economic worries.
Barclays will launch an Islamic structured notes programme in the near future.
Barclays will also develop its Islamic liquidity management offerings, such as repurchase agreements (repos), to markets such as Africa where Islamic finance is anticipated to grow.