IslamicFinance.de

The Central Bank of West Africa’s CFA-franc zone (BCEAO) has signed an agreement with the Jeddah-based Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), to help finance Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) through a $100 million Islamic fund. The ICD will commit an initial $30 million for the SME fund and will help seek additional investors to increase the amount to $100 million while the implementation monitoring was entrusted to the BCEAO. The Central Bank also committed to supporting SMEs by providing incentives to credit institutions, as well as developing complementary leasing and venture capital instruments.

In his keynote address at the IFN forum Saudi Arabia 2015, Khaled Al-Aboodi, CEO of Islamic Cooperation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) said that there is still a need of acquiring more knowledge and experience in Islamic finance. Al-Aboodi, while reviewing the latest global economic situation in the world, said growth remains moderate and uneven. The growth trajectories in emerging and developing markets vary significantly across countries, and in general, the outlook shows more weakening due to low prices of oil and other commodities, as well as the slowdown in China. As far as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is concerned, the economic growth prospects is further hampered by geopolitical tensions and security challenges in some countries, he said.