| 14 Oct 2009 |
|
Bank Asya becomes partner in African banks
- Text size
JEDDAH: A strategic cooperation agreement has been signed between the Islamic Corporation for the DevelopmentIslamic Corporation for the Development
of the Private Sector (ICD), a subsidiary of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), and Bank Asya, Turkey's leading participation bank, under which Bank Asya acquires a 40 percent stake in Senegal-based Tamweel Africa Holding SA, owned by the ICD.The agreement was signed by Khaled Mohammed Al-Aboodi, CEO and General Manager of the ICD and Bank Asya General Manager Unal Kabaca.
As a result of the agreement, ICD and Bank Asya, will operate in the interest-free banking sector together throughout Africa, especially in the western part of the continent.
According to the plan, Tamweel Africa holding is expected to increase its stakes in the Islamic Bank of Niger (IBN), the Islamic Bank of Senegal (IBS) and the Islamic Bank of Guinea (IBG) to 66, 77.5 and 100 percent, respectively.
All of these banks engage in the interest-free banking sector. The holding is also planning to raise its stake to 100 percent in the Islamic Bank of Mauritania (IBM), which is expected to begin operations in 2010.
Bank Asya paid $15 million for 40 percent stake in Tamweel Africa Holding. With this participation the bank has acquired a 26.6 percent stake in the IBN, a 31.1 percent stake in the IBS, a 40 percent stake in the IBG and a 40 percent stake in the IBM.
Speaking at the signing ceremony in Istanbul on Monday, Bank Asya General Manager Unal Kabaca noted that in order to benefit from Africa's potential, they had reached an agreement with the ICD to operate jointly in the field of interest-free banking throughout the continent.
Bank Asya will provide technical and operational support to the banks in which it has stakes, Kabaca said, adding that they will also try to help boost Turkish investment in the region. He said that Turkey's exports to African countries are about 15 percent of overall exports and that trade volume between Turkey and African countries has been increasing significantly in recent years.
Kabaca cited the main obstacles that prevent Turkish businessmen from trading with and investing in African countries was the lack of banking services in the region, adding that this gap will be filled with the joint efforts of the ICD and Bank Asya.
Zawya is a distributor (and not a publisher) of content supplied by third parties and subscribers. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by those third parties, including information providers, subscribers or other users of the Service, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of the Company. The Company neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the Service by anyone other than authorized Service employee spokespersons while acting in their official capacities. The Company is not responsible for any infringement of intellectual property rights or breach of any applicable law or regulation, including regulation in relation to financial services or the distribution of financial products, defamation, data protection, telecommunications (including regulations relating to excessive use, spamming or other abusive activities) or obscene, offensive or illegal content). Under no circumstances will the Company be liable for any loss or damage caused by a member's reliance on information obtained through the Service. It is the responsibility of member to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through the Service. Please seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding the evaluation of any specific information, opinion, advice or other content.
Read the full Member Agreement
http://www.zawya.com/legal/NewsLetter.cfm?name=disclaimer
More News in Islamic Finance
Loading ...
Post a Comment
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.