IslamicFinance.de

The government of Mali will complete its first sukuk sale using a lease-based structure linked to affordable housing projects. The West African nation aims to raise 150 billion CFA franc ($285 million) via a seven-year deal that carries a profit rate of 6.25%. The sukuk uses an ijara structure that is underpinned by social housing projects in N‘Tabacoro in the southwest of the country. The sale is being arranged by the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), which has advised the governments of Togo, Ivory Coast and Senegal on their own sovereign sukuk. The sukuk assets are managed by Taiba Titrisation, a Senegal-based subsidiary of the ICD.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and Coris Bank International have entered into a Joint Strategic Collaboration to establish Islamic windows. ICD is assisting Coris Bank International’s subsidiaries in launching four dedicated Islamic windows in Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal and Benin. The advisory agreement was signed by the CEO of ICD, Mr. Khaled Al Aboodi and Mr. Idrissa Nassa, CEO and Chairman of Coris Bank International. Mr. Nassa stated that the signature of this advisory agreement with ICD aims to achieve the bank's objectives. The current strategy of the group is to implement an Islamic Window in all its banking network. In midterm the group aspires to create sharia compliant subsidiaries.

The Islamic Development Bank has launched a programme to release $180 million in financing to six African countries for renewable energy projects. The new initiative, called Renewable Energy for Poverty Reduction, will target projects over the next three years to improve access to electricity in Africa's rural areas. Around $125 million have been committed by the bank and initial talks with potential partners such as the OPEC Fund for International Development have started to secure the rest. The initiative will focus on West Africa and projects in Burkina Faso have already been approved. Projects such as mini-grids and rooftop solar systems for Mali, Senegal, Niger and Nigeria are likely to follow and a sixth African country not yet determined.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and its poverty reduction arm, the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD), have now extended more than $100 million in financing to help eight African nations combat extreme poverty, improve public health and achieve more sustainable development. In each of these projects, host governments will partner with the IsDB, the Earth Institute and Millennium Promise to carry out the projects. The combined $104 million will finance three major programs: The ISFD’s new flagship Sustainable Villages Program (SVP) in Chad, Mozambique, and Sudan ($40 million), Scale-ups of the Millennium Villages Project in Mali, Senegal and Uganda ($29 million), Implementation of the Drylands Initiative in Djibouti, Somalia and Uganda ($35 million). The $104 million will be provided in the form of Islamic finance to the recipient countries, except in the case of a grant provided to Somalia. All of these countries are members of the bank.

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) is to provide $104m (£67.3m) in loans to African governments to fund an expansion of Millennium Villages, the controversial project led by Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute. About $40m of the money will go towards a flagship sustainable villages programme (SVP) in Chad, Mozambique, and Sudan. In addition, $29m will support the extension of existing Millennium Village projects (MVPs) in Mali, Senegal and Uganda, while $35m will be used for a drylands initiative in Djibouti, Somalia and Uganda. Governments will team up with the IsDB, the Earth Institute, and its partner, Millennium Promise, to carry out the projects. The Millennium Village project covers more than 500,000 people in 14 areas of 10 countries in different environments across Africa. Each site was considered a "hunger hot-spot" at the time the project began in 2006. The concept works on the principle of interventions across several key areas – health, education, enterprise and agriculture – over a 10-year period.

Two new Islamic banks are planned to be opened in Mali and Benin by the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD). The openings are scheduled for next year. The initiative is part of the efforts to expand the industry's consumer base in Africa. According to Khaled Al-Aboodi, the development of Islamic banking in Africa is more important in terms of supplies than in terms of the potentially massive demand. ICD further intends to establish Islamic financial institutions including banks and takaful insurers in Africa. The established in 2009 Tamweel Africa Holding (TAH) is to contribute to the establishment, acquisition and management of Islamic financial institutions in West Africa.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) considers opening two new Islamic banks in the countroes of Mali and Benin in the coming year. This was announced by the CEO of the ICD - H.E. Khaled Mohammed Al-Aboodi - at the Islamic Banking Summit Africa in Djibouti. This way, Islamic financial services can be provided in a greatly underserved area. Furthermore, the corporation intends to issue a $200 million Sukuk which is to serve the Government of Senegal to provide liquid Islamic products for Islamic banks.

Mali and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) have signed a grant agreement of 789 million CFA francs (about USD 1.578 million) aimed at supporting the revival of agriculture. The grant complements two funding agreements recently approved by IDB's Board of Executive Directors to support agricultural production on water control.