IslamicFinance.de

Somalia's Sombank selected the Temenos Islamic Banking solution in the cloud to accelerate its digital transformation and create innovative products to increase access to financial services in Somalia. Sombank will implement the full front-to-back Temenos Islamic Banking platform, which combines the capabilities of Temenos Infinity and Temenos Transact. Temenos’ cloud-native technology will allow Sombank to create innovative digital products and offer lower cost services. Currently, Sombank serves customers via branch and online network and representative offices throughout Somalia. The bank will use the Temenos Infinity digital front office to create a unified customer experience for all financial and non-financial services across all channels.

A joint initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) will boost agriculture and enhance drought resilience in Nigeria, Somalia and Uganda. Stronger ties between the two banks will help ramp up agricultural production along important crop and livestock value chains. For example, in Nigeria the Plateau State Potato Value Chain Support Project of the AfDB and the planned IsDB’s Agro Pastoral Development Project in Kano State will promote higher household incomes through productive agro-pastoral activities. In Somalia, AfDB’s Say No To Famine project is providing emergency assistance support and facilitating drought resilience building through the restoration of community assets.

MicroDahab MFI, the microfinance subsidiary and corporate social responsibility initiative of the United Arab Emirates-based conglomerate Dahabshiil Group; and SolarGen Technologies, a Somalia-based distributor of renewable energy technologies, have announced a joint energy project in Somalia. The project will allow low-income Somali farmers and entrepreneurs to acquire a “solar-powered water pump” under a “lease to purchase” agreement. The African Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), a Kenya-based fund that promotes for-profit enterprises operating in Africa, has provided unspecified support to the initiative. MicroDahab will bear both the capital cost and risk of asset ownership, while its clients reap the benefits of using the water pumps, at minimal rents.

Takaful Insurance Company has on Monday opened its doors in Somalia’s northeastern state of Puntland for the first time in over two decades, ushering in what analysts believe boost for the country’s fledgling insurance industry. Takaful Somalia head Omar Haji Hussein revealed that they would provide indemnity against a lot of losses facing business community. In support of purity and certainty, prominent cleric Sheikh Mohamud Haji Yusuf praised the opening of Takaful in Puntland. Opened in Mogadishu in December 2014 at first, Takaful insures cars, buildings and other essential properties for risks.

To address the Financial Investment challenges in Mogadishu, Takaful, the first Islamic insurance company of Somalia, was opened December last year in Mogadishu, Somalia, marking a shift to protect critical assets and assist regional business practice in Somalia, which has for a long time been prone to risks without cover. The Takaful company already has successful operations in Mogadishu markets across Southern Somalia. The First Takaful and Re-Takaful Insurance partnership has already launched two regional operations in Mogadishu for the last three months.

Premier Bank in Somalia has successfully gone live with Path Solutions’ iMAL Islamic Banking & Investment System on the 29th of December 2014. The implementation of the new R14 Branch Automation in the latest Java version serves the bank’s purposes of focusing on its business growth, managing risks and controlling costs. Phase I implementation covers System Admin, Accounting, Customer Service Management (CSM), Report Designer, SWIFT, Alerts (SMS Banking), and Processing modules in iMAL. Phase II implementation is already in progress and includes Facility Management System, Islamic Investment System, Provisioning, Profit Calculation System and Integration Manager modules along with Internet Banking, ATM, and Mobile Banking.

Islamic finance products are more and more being seen as a mainstream source of financing for governments and not as a niche product for Muslim communities. In December, Kenya banned fifteen NGOs accused of funding terrorism, as the country struggles to defend itself from attacks by the al-Shabaab terror militia based in neighboring Somalia. In 2013 a similar crackdown in the UK had 250 money transfer companies put on notice by Barclays Bank as part of a move to meet stricter money laundering rules. Somalia to date as no formal banking system and therefore relies on companies from abroad to send remittances.

In Mogadishu the country’s first Islamic insurance company was launched after decades of instability and civil war. The opening Ceremony of the Takaful and Re-Takful Islamic Insurance Company was had representative guests from major Somali financial institutes as well as business people and federal government officials. In Somalia the insurance banking system sector collapsed in 1991.

Leaders of global and regional institutions pledge political support and major new financial assistance for countries in the region, totaling more than $8 billion over the coming years. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the World Bank Group (WBG) President, Jim Yong Kim, as well as the President of the Islamic Development Bank Group and high level representatives of the African Union Commission, the European Union, the African Development Bank, and Intergovernmental Agency for Development (IGAD) are combining forces to promote stability and development in the Horn of Africa. The initiative covers the eight countries in the Horn of Africa -- Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda.

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.

The President of the Islamic Development Bank Group, Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali has stressed that the IDB would cooperate with the Government of Somalia in a bid to rebuild and consolidate the public finance institutions through various methods such as staff training and transfer of knowledge and technology from IDB member countries. He also said that the IDB would assist the Government in the fields of Islamic banking and finance and improve legislation on investment so that the private sector can play its role in economic and social development. IDB's future activities in Somalia would be geared toward building government institutions, restoring basic services and improving infrastructure he added.

Saba Islamic Bank of Yemen and Dahabshil Bank of Djibouti are making plans to engage in operations in Somalia in the coming year. Basel Haj-Issa, the new CEO of Saba Islamic Bank, said at the Islamic Banking Summit Africa in Djibouti that the reason for the bank's expansion into Somalia is the client demand. Since trade between Djibouti and Somalia is quite intensive, many clients of the bank need Islamic banking services in the country.

Somali Ambassador Idd Mohamed wishes to establish a stock exchange in neighbouring Kenya in order to allow other east Africans access to companies in Kenya. This should encourage priavate capital to develop across the continent.

AllAfrica reported on 27 December 2008 about the openining of Salam African Bank collaborated by Somali and Djibouti businessmen and openend by Djibouti president Ismail Omar Guelleh.

Mohamed Yusuf Ahmed Allore is said to be one of the managers.