IslamicFinance.de

Tatweej Academy for Excellence Awards and the Arab Organization for Social Responsibility have granted Mr. Musa Shihadeh, Vice Chairman, General Manager of Jordan Islamic Bank (JIB) a red sash and gold medal of Distinguished and a Certificate of Excellence in the field of wise leadership. This ceremony honors Shihadeh in appreciation of his distinguished efforts in settling islamic banking rules in Jordan, and possessing leadership and management characteristics. The ceremony was held in Dubai with the participation and attendance of institutions and management figures who were honored for the achievements and initiatives.

The two-day Forum for Corporate Social Responsibility, where several issues of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Saudi Arabia will be discussed, opened in Jeddah on April 9. Moreover, the names of the winning Saudi companies recognised for implementing social responsibility programs launched by the Chamber of Commerce last year will be announced at the forum. Several sessions tackle the different aspects of CSR, such as aligning business strategy and social responsibility programs, or linking youth social initiatives with funding sources and technical support.

Through the Banking on Change Partnership, CARE, Plan, and Barclays have developed new savings-led products based on a link between informal savings groups and Barclays bank branches. To date, Banking on Change has developed three different types of savings accounts and an overdraft facility. The Uwezo savings product in Kenya is a good example of a product designed with client needs in mind. By allowing group accounts, Barclays has lowered its transaction costs. Currently with the Uwezo account, withdrawals and deposits are free, there is no maintenance fee, and the opening balance requirement is 2,000 Kenyan Shillings (around US$23). But to truly scale up a product, you need an appropriate delivery channel to reach an existing large-scale market. For formal financial providers to engage in this area, more research is needed on product development.

The Council of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) has yesterday resolved to admit sevenorganisations into the IFSB membership. The newly admitted Associate Members are Indonesia Deposit Insurance Corporation, Banque Centrale Des Etats de L'afrique de L'ouest (Senegal), and the Central Bank of Tunisia. New Observer Members are SAB (France), Finance Accreditation Agency Berhad (Malaysia), RAM Rating Services Berhad (Malaysia) and Fajr Capital Limited (UAE). Consequently, the IFSB comprises now 187 members, consisting of supervisory and regulatory authorities, as well as international inter-governmental organisations, and market players.

The International Bank of Azerbaijan has announced provision of new services to clients through the first and so far only "Islamic window" in Azerbaijan. A range of services offered by the bank includes such products of Islamic banking as Ijara, Vakala deposit, Islamic bank cards, and opening of Gard Hassan accounts. All procedures and documentation on these types of services meet the standards assigned by the Islamic financial regulator AAOIFI (Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions).It is planned to introduce in the banking legislation the concept of Islamic banking.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has closed an Dhs302m ($82m) syndicated Islamic financing deal for Emirates National Factory for Plastic Industries L.L.C. (ENPI). This financing will be used in conjunction with ENPI's recent acquisition of 100% share of ENPI Packaging Division by Saudi Printing & Packaging Company. ADIB acted as the Mandated Lead Arranger, Sole Bookrunner, Investment and Security Agent Bank for the deal. Other banks that participated in the financing deal included Al Hilal Bank, Mashreq Al Islami as Mandated Lead Arrangers, ADCB, Ajman Bank and FGB as Lead Arrangers.

Sharjah Islamic Bank launched the sale of a $500 million sukuk on Tuesday at a profit rate of 2.95 percent. Final pricing is due to follow later on Tuesday. Abu Dhabi's Al Hilal Bank, HSBC Holdings, Kuwait's Liquidity Management House, a unit of Kuwait Finance House , and Standard Chartered Plc are mandated lead arrangers on the sukuk.

The Economic Committee at the Shura Council is set to accept the $50m development loan from the IDB to encourage the growth of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), with $320,000 set aside for logistical aid and worker training programs. Repayment will begin three years after the grace period for withdrawal. Ghadi Wali, secretary general of Egypt’s Social Fund for Development (SFD), said that the SFD will employ a number of international experts in order to review the potential outcome and effects of the IDB loan. She said that the SFD’s goal would be to distinguish between real losses and those suffered as a result of Egypt’s depreciating currency.

Iraqi Islamic Bank for Investment and Development has teamed up with a Bahrain-based Baraka Islamic Bank to develop an investment vehicle that will target Iraq's lucrative and promising food sector. The fund has already acquired interest from Arabian Gulf and European investors, prompting the Iraqi lender to increase the size of the vehicle from US$50 million (Dh183.6m) to $75m. It will provide financial support to an affiliate company of Iraqi Islamic Bank that has a three-year track record of delivering contracts on sugar stockpile to Iraq's ministry of trade.

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.

Since the IMF deal might fail, Plan B could be the issuance of US$-denominated sukuk certificates to local Banks in turn for EGPC rights in upcoming oil/gas fields. This will be akin to monetizing production sharing rights owned by EGPC. This alternative will still require aggressive reduction in energy subsidies to ensure repayment of sukuk liabilities as they come due. The two prerequisites of Plan B success are 1) stability in the movement of FC customer deposits and 2) execution of energy sector reforms . Both actors ultimately hinge on political reconciliation.

KLCC Property Holdings (KLCCP) expects its KLCCP Stapled Group, the first shariah-compliant stapled real estate investment trust (REIT), to become one of the largest property groups in Asia with a market capitalisation of RM12 billion. Chief Executive Officer Hashim Wahir said the KLCC REIT will house three properties - Petronas Twin Towers, Menara 3 Petronas and Menara ExxonMobil. The stapled REIT which is the KLCCP shares and KLCC REIT unit will be stapled and will be traded as one security on the Bursa Securities. Upon completion of the restructuring, KLCCP shareholders will own shares and units in KLCCP and KLCC REIT respectively.

Bankers have long past expressed their disappointment in the seeming inability of the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM) to issue its debut sukuk. After much speculation and expectation about a debut sukuk launch last April 6, IILM will eventually issue the Islamic bond in the third quarter of 2013 – a $500 million issuance. However, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) abruptly divested the IILM’s equity subscription last Friday. But what impact the Kingdom’s departure will have on the future of the IILM remains unclear. IILM also signed signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Doha on Saturday to strengthen cooperation between the two organizations.

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.

In line with the Sharia law on insurance of sharing profits and losses, Takaful Insurance of Africa company has shared Sh15.6 million surplus from its premium pool with clients. The company on Saturday issued 2,000 clients who contributed to the company's premium pool over the last one year with cheques for various amounts depending with the money they paid for various covers. The three highest paid customers took home Sh240,000, Sh150,000 and Sh100,000 respectively. According to its five-year plan, the company plans to spread its wings all over the country and to establish networks in Nyanza, Western and also Isiolo county.

An estimated 1.28 million clients around the world use Sharia-compliant microfinance services, a four-fold increase since 2006. The number of providers offering these products has doubled since 2006. Ninety-two percent of Sharia-compliant loans are concentrated in East Asia/the Pacific and Middle East/North Africa regions. Indonesia is home to the largest outstanding portfolio at $347 million. Despite this growth, the sector is limited in terms of the number of service providers, product offerings, and overall outreach. Experts say the most important factor is to drive down costs so that clients don’t have to choose between their religion and their wallet.

According to Ernst & Young’s report ‘The growing crisis of affordable housing in MENA,’ regional governments need to engage the private sector to help address the growing crisis of affordable housing. Housing affordability lies at the intersection of supply side (more homes) and demand side (more financing), and to tackle the growing crisis, MENA governments need to engage the private sector on both sides simultaneously. Cities will not create quality affordable housing if the task is left purely to the private market. It is vital that MENA governments take charge of land allocation and make sure that some urban land is reserved for that purpose.

Ajman Bank appoints Mohammed Zaqout as chief executive officer. Zaqout's appointment will be effective on April 21 pending regulatory approval.