IslamicFinance.de

Al Baraka Bank Tunisia recently announced its financial results for the year 2019. The results revealed that the bank has moved forward with a net income that increased by 256% and total assets by 20% compared to the end of 2018. The Bank’s financial statements for the year 2019 show that the total income amounted to 133 million Tunisian dinars ($48 million), up 29% compared to the same period last year. After deducting all operating expenses, net operating income went up 54% to 30 million Tunisian dinars (US$11 million). The Bank also increased its shareholders’ equity by 9% to 174 million Tunisian Dinars (USD 62 million) at the end of December 2019.

The sale of Zitouna bank and Takaful continues and is expected to end in July 2018, by which time we should know the identity of the final buyer. The bank had posted a net banking income of 101.748 MD, an operating profit of 19.411 MD and a net profit of 12.630 MD at the end of the 2016. For its part, the Zitouna Takaful posted a net profit of 2.490 MD in the same year. The company will have more than doubled its result compared to 1.054 MD in 2015. This, in connection with the high level of imports which have been on an upward trend in recent years, reaching 12.8 billion dinars in 2017.

The Bahraini Gulf Finance House (GFH) would seek to get rid of its Tunisian project, the Tunis Financial Harbor. The project was to be one of the largest Bahraini investments in Tunisia, which would be worth 7.5 billion USD. Tunis Financial Harbor was initially designed to make Tunisia a regional financial hub, but eventually turned into a simple real estate program. GFH is currently seeking to pass the hand and to pass the project on to another investor. The cause would be the financial difficulties of the Bahraini group.

Governor of Ariana, Mehdi Zaoui announced the start of work on the construction of the Tunis Financial Harbour. Zaoui said they finished the dispute regarding the expropriation for public use under habitat. The Tunis Financial Harbour, considered as a mega project developed by the Gulf Finance House in the northern suburbs near Raoued, extends over 523 hectares with a total investment of USD 5 billion.

President Beji Caid Essebsi and the Bahrain Prime Minister agreed to restart the mega project Tunis Financial Harbor, said official spokesman for the Presidency of the Republic, Moez Sinaoui. This mega project is financed by the Gulf Finance House, an Islamic Investment Bank of Bahrain, with a budget of 7.5 billion dinars. It will set up the first financial center for offshore banking institutions in North Africa. The Financial Harbor will house a set of shopping centers and residential units and recreation spaces: marina, golf courses.

Tunisia's El Wifack Leasing plans to become the country's third full-fledged Islamic bank by August and will receive a capital injection from the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD). The ICD will not only provide technical assistance, but also inject up to 30 percent of the bank's capital, helping it increase its authorized capital to at least 150 million dinars ($77 million), El Wifack's general manager Mohammed Mellousse said. It will start offering sharia-compliant deposits through eight branches and build a network of 60 branches within five years, aiming for a 1.5 percent share of Tunisia's total banking market, he added. Currently, there are two full-fledged Islamic banks in Tunisia, Zitouna Bank and the Tunisian arm of Bahrain's Al Baraka Banking Group.

Tunisian government became an offer for financing of the purchase of four brand new airplanes from the Qatari Islamic Investment Bank. The discussions were led among the management of the bank, the Minister of Transport of Tunisia and the CEO of Tunisair.

HSBC launches its Amanah Islamic banking services in Mauritius, being the first Islamic window provider. The new services is primarily for international business clients in the offshore sector. Local clients may follow later.

Sandeep Uppal is the CEO of HSBC in Mauritius.

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.