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Gulf Finance House announced that its landmark $300 million development project, Jordan Gate, based in Amman, Jordan is due for completion early 2011 following the signing of a new agreement between Bayan Holding Jordan Gate Company, Alhamad Company, the construction company responsible for delivering the project and Hektar as a new investor. With the signing of the new agreement, the Jordan Gate project is expected to be completed early next year. Jordan Gate is the most extensive and significant infrastructure development in Amman. The project consists of two 43 storey towers, with one of the towers to be transformed into a hotel to be operated by Hilton Hotels and the other tower to provide offices, multi-purpose lounges and halls for meetings, presentations and conferences. A commercial podium connecting the two towers will host shops, entertainment centres, a food court and other services.

Stanbic Bank Tanzania has recorded an impressive response to the Shariah banking scheme. Already 5,000 new customers have opened accounts since it was introduced three months ago. Managing director Bashir Awale said to its customers in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday that the Shariah-compliant banking would be improved to enable more clients to join it. The bank also plans to install more automated teller machines to bring services closer to the clientele. It is a system of banking that is consistent with the principles of Islamic Law (Shariah), which in practice prohibits the payments or acceptance of interest fees for the lending and acceptance of money.

In the current issues the following questions are discussed:

How should we recognize excellence in the Islamic finance industry?
How do we identify greatness – of bankers and financiers, of lawyers, of consultants, of scholars?
How do we discourage a culture of „Islamic Awards for Cash??
How do we develop an „Islamic? methodology for rewarding achievement?

A microfinance institution called The Ghana Islamic Microfinance will be set up to offer ethical micro financing while campaigning against predatory loan and offer interest free loans for both the Muslim and Non-Muslim community.

"THE CONCEPT AND OPERATIONS OF SWAP AS A HEDGING MECHANISM FOR ISLAMIC FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS"

The main objective of this paper is to give a clearer picture of the swap mechanism as offered by the international Islamic financial institutions and how its operations are structured in accordance with Shariah principles and contracts. In preparing this paper, ISRA has held a series of internal discussions as well as with outside parties, including Shariah experts and operating officers from international banks directly involved in the structuring of Shariah-compliant swap products. Documents related to the products and related academic materials were also referred to, giving a wider and thorough perspective on the issue.

by

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki
Head of Research Affairs Department
International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA)

Shabnam Mokhtar
Researcher
International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA)

Download: http://www.isra.my/media-centre/downloads/finish/29/216/0.html

The National Bank of Commerce (NBC), a subsidiary of Absa, has placed itself ahead of competitors in the Banking Industry by launching Islamic Banking to the public. This move is in line with Absa’s strategy of expanding its offering in Africa.

NBC’s Managing Director Mr Christo De Vries said this new service is part of NBC’s business banking strategy, to provide innovative products to meet the needs of the market. The introduction of Islamic Banking in the Tanzanian market is aimed at ensuring that we offer products that appeal to all Tanzanians regardless of their faith or background.

Ethiopia is one of the hungriest countries in the world, with more than 13 million people needing food aid, but paradoxically the government is offering at least three million hectares of its most fertile land to rich countries and some of the world’s most wealthy individuals to export food for their own populations.

The 1,000 hectares of land that contain the Awassa greenhouses are leased for 99 years to a Saudi billionaire businessman, Ethiopian-born Sheikh Mohammed al-Amoudi, one of the 50 richest men in the world. His Saudi Star company plans to spend up to US$2 billion acquiring and developing 500,000 hectares of land in Ethiopia in the next few years. So far, it has bought four farms and is already growing wheat, rice, vegetables and flowers for the Saudi market. It expects eventually to employ more than 10,000 people.

Alhaji Teslim Sanusi is the President of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), the umbrella body for all brokers in Nigeria. In this interview, he bars his mind on the challenges and prospects of insurance in Nigeria and specifically in the North.

Following the poor growth of insurance in the North, is the NCRIB partnering insurance companies to help deepen the market?
The NCRIB is deeply concerned with the poor acceptance of Insurance generally in Nigeria and more so in the North and is prepared to facilitate its better acceptance. Among other things, the Council is already fortifying its Northern Area Committee to take up the challenges of promoting insurance growth in the region. The Area Committee has designed strategies for propagating insurance in the region. Aside from the aggressive public awareness crusade the Area Committee is to be used as the arrow heads of the corporate awareness and publicity campaign of the Council.

Would you say, the marketing drive of insurance companies in the north is good enough compared to the efforts put in the south?