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Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Development Bank began marketing a five-year dollar sukuk at high-40s basis points over mid-swaps. The bank has hired Citi, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC, Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, LBBW, Natixis and Standard Chartered Bank to arrange the potential debt sale. The issuance is under Islamic Development Bank’s $25 billion trust certificate issuance programme and is expected to be of benchmark size. Benchmark size generally means upwards of $500 million.

On November 27 the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) raised 1 billion euros in green sukuk. The 5-year sukuk was raised under IDB’s $25 billion sukuk programme and was priced at a profit rate of 0.037%. Proceeds from the issue will be channeled to climate change and green projects in IDB's 57-member countries. These include projects for renewable energy, clean transportation, energy efficiency, pollution prevention and control, environmentally sustainable management of natural living resources and land use and sustainable water and wastewater management. The joint lead managers and joint bookrunners for the sukuk were Citi, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Natixis, Société Générale, Warba Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) announced the availability of scholarships for Muslim Community in India to pursue undergraduate studies in India. The scholarship may cover tuition fees and/or monthly stipends, books & clothing allowance and medical coverage through public or university sponsored hospitals. Major fields at undergraduate level include Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, Engineering, Agriculture, Information Technology, Economics, Education, Psychology and Learning, Education Policy and International Development.

Cancer patients from the Palestinian territories can soon benefit from a new modern diagnosis apparatus, financed by Germany and the Islamic Development Bank. The Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) in East Jerusalem received a PET/CT scanner which allows modern cancer diagnosis. Mr. Peter Beerwerth, the German Representative in Ramallah praised the valuable work the AVH is doing. AVH, managed by the Lutheran World Federation, is the first and only hospital to provide special therapies in the Palestinian territories. Here, about 1.800 patients are treated yearly. Germany contributed an amount of 1,2 million USD for the PET/CT system. The Islamic Development Bank contributed some 400.000 USD.

Islamic Development Bank president Bandar Hajjar said the bank was exploring joint opportunities with other multilateral development banks to invest in India’s infrastructure sector. India plans to invest as much as ?5.97 trillion in creating and upgrading infrastructure in the current financial year. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is setting in play a new integrated infrastructure programme that involves building of roads, railways, waterways and airports. For this, India has sought project financing totalling $2.4 billion from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Also, the Asian bank will invest $200 million in India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).

Russia's Vnesheconombank (VEB) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group will establish a Partnership Fund. According to VEB Chairman Sergei Gorkov, the joint fund will be based on the principles of Islamic finance and will aim at promoting investment in the Russian economy and financing high technologies. The joint contribution of VEB and the IDB Group to the fund's capital will amount up to $100 million. Third-party investors will be involved as well. Gorkov added that the Middle East market is one of the strategic areas of cooperation for Vnesheconombank. It plans to open a representative office in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, and create a Russian business desk there. It will provide access to sales and capital markets in the region and create opportunities for partnership with local players.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) signed a grant agreement worth $63.3 million for the establishment of facilities and services in South Darfur, Sudan. Earlier this month, the IDB agreed to lend Tunisia $185 million to finance developments including an electricity project. The bank agreed to finance an electricity link worth $150, as well as the construction of hospitals in Kasserine and Kef worth $34 million. The IDB is a Jeddah-based multilateral development financing institution. It began its activities in 1975. The present membership of the bank consists of 57 countries.

The World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank want to increase the use of long-term investments in Islamic finance. The two multilateral bodies set out a series of policy recommendations in a joint report, aiming to capitalize on the risk-sharing and asset-backed features of Islamic finance. Islamic banking products have often been developed under the same regulatory regime as conventional lenders, so instruments are sharia-compliant but economically similar to their interest-based counterparts. This contributes to an over-allocation of savings to short and medium-term financial instruments, with a reliance on risk-transfer rather than risk-sharing. To counter this, policymakers could help develop sector-specific investment banks as well as non-bank Islamic firms such as leasing companies, venture capital firms and crowdfunding platforms. The report also raised the need for tax incentives and Islamic insurance schemes to help extend maturities.

Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan will head the Kingdom's delegation to the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Islamic Development Bank between April 4-5 in Tunis. The Saudi delegation will include Dr. Ahmad Al-Khulaifi, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), Dr. Hamad Al-Bazie, Vice Minister of Finance, Eng. Yousef Al-Bassam, Vice President and Managing Director of the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD). The IDB annual meeting's agenda will comprise of discussion sessions about the 2017 IDB activities report, IDB's institutions annual report and the establishment of the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD). The ISFD aims to alleviate poverty, develop capacity, and eradicate illiteracy, diseases and epidemics in member countries via funding various productive, social and service projects and programs.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) launched a $500 million fund to strengthen science, technology and innovation in the Muslim World. The launch of the fund was made at the IDB's 43rd Annual Meeting in Tunis. The fund had been announced for the first time in Kazakhstan in September 2017, by the IDB President, Dr. Bandar Hajjar. He said 57 IDB member countries face challenges in development and many of them could not solve their problems on their own. He added that the IDB wants to be a catalyst so that people can lead the process of development. Dr. Hayat Sindi, chief scientific adviser to the IDB president, said the bank would like to give every scientist an opportunity to provide solutions to development challenges. She said the aim of the fund was to give a boost to creative minds.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group and the World Bank Group launched the second edition of the Global Report on Islamic Finance. The report is entitled "The Role of Islamic Finance in Financing Long-Term Investments". It presents a global perspective on the need for long-term investments in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and proposes the use of Islamic finance. Despite the huge potential in Islamic finance, the report notes that the Islamic financial sector is a small player in the global financial markets and requires a concerted push for the regulatory and legal changes to take root. It therefore recommends strengthening the Islamic financial system by developing a supportive legal, administrative, and regulatory environment. The biennial Global Report on Islamic Finance is a joint initiative of the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) of the IDB Group and the World Bank.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) aims to improve women’s access to infrastructure that will offer economic opportunities through Islamic microfinance. IDB president Bandar Hajjar was speaking at the "Partnerships for Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment" session at the 43rd annual IDB meeting in Tunis. He said the empowerment of women was at the core of the Bank’s development strategy. He announced that to achieve this, the bank would launch a new initiative called "SheCan". He also stressed the bank continued its regular operations to empower women in priority sectors, such as energy, education, transport, health and Islamic finance. Representatives of 57 member states, senior government officials and ministers of finance, economy, planning and international development are attending the five-day meeting in Tunis.

The annual meeting of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group will be held in the first week of April in the Tunisian capital, Tunis. Fifty-seven ministers of economy and finance of member countries and about one thousand experts, economists and financiers will attend the meeting, which takes place between April 1 and April 5. There will also be a signing ceremony of financial partnership agreements between the IDB Group and some member states, including Tunisia. The IDB Group formally opened in 1975 and currently has 57 member states.

Leading Islamic finance experts gathered at the London Stock Exchange for the Sukuk Summit organized by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). IDB President Dr Bandar Hajjar highlighted the need for London to be at the heart of the "Islamic finance revolution" and for it to leverage its global marketplace. He highlighted the continued global growth of the Islamic finance market, in particular the growth within the UK. He also cited the financial inclusion and shared prosperity model which is at the heart of Islamic finance transactions. The London Stock Exchange is home to a number of sukuk listings, with 65 sukuk having been listed on the London Stock Exchange valued at $48 billion. John Glenn MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury said the UK had supported market-driven innovations in the field of Islamic FinTech and the government was determined to ensure continuation.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) announced it would launch a $2.5 billion sukuk "soon". Bank President Bandar Hajjar said the IDB was also planning to set up a $500 million fund to support science and technology start-ups. The institution has recently hired banks as joint lead managers and bookrunners for a new U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk. The banks are CIMB, Citi, Emirates NBD Capital, Gulf International Bank, HSBC, NATIXIS, SMBC Nikko and Standard Chartered Bank. Hajjar added he expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) soon, on joint investing in Africa. Timing and size of the cooperation were not disclosed, but it would target the 26 poorest countries on the continent.

This Monday the world’s leading investors and experts will meet in London to discuss Islamic finance, with special focus on the Sukuk. Islamic finance has grown significantly within the UK in recent years. The Islamic Development Bank (IDB)’s funding plan for the first half of 2018 is estimated at $2.5bn, the largest since the Bank’s inception. A benchmark sized Sukuk issue will soon be launched ant the proceeds will be used to support infrastructure, education and health projects across the 57 member countries. According to IDB president Bandar Hajjar, the UK and London in particular will be at the heart of the Islamic finance revolution and Monday’s summit is a great place to start.

Bandar Hajjar, president of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), announced that the bank would soon issue its largest sized Sukuk for $2.5 billion. IDB is a regular issuer of Sukuk having last issued in September 2017 with a $1.25 billion issuance which was priced at 2.261%. The bank has recently partnered with China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and plans to co-finance many projects in Africa. Africa has witnessed a growing share of mostly sovereign Sukuk issuances. Sudan, Gambia, Senegal, South Africa have all issued sovereign sukuk, the latest issuer is Cote d’Ivoire with its inaugural debut in 2015 of USD 260 million.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is set to form a partnership with the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to address the large infrastructure gap in developing countries. IDB president Bandar Hajjar said the bank would co-finance many projects with AIIB in the future in Africa to finance infrastructure projects. Co-operation between the AIIB and the IDB is set to create a new force in development finance for several developing countries. Many of the IDB’s 57 member countries overlap with the AIIB’s approved membership of some 80 nations.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank will engage in public-private partnerships (PPP) for infrastructure development projects. Representatives of both institutions met recently and discussed issues included in IDB’s report "Mobilising Islamic Finance for Infrastructure-Public Private Partnership". IDB spokesperson Dr. Abdul-Hakim Elwaer said these partnerships fall in line with the new development orientations of IDB member countries including Saudi Arabia, whose ambitious 2030 plan is targeting to increase the private sector’s contribution to the GDP from 40-60%. Elwaer added that Saudi Arabia is hoping to achieve these goals by seeking out PPPs and promoting the privatization of government entities.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has decided to sell its 21% share in Zitouna Bank’s capital. The origin of this decision is supposedly a disagreement of specifications. The withdrawal could benefit Triki Group, which could disburse 80-90 million Tunisian dinars for this acquisition. IDB entered in Zitouna Bank’s capital in 2014, with TND37.5 million. Since its inception in 2009, Zitouna Bank has become a leading Islamic financial instituion in the local market.