Hamed Ali, chief executive of Nasdaq Dubai and deputy CEO of NASDAQ told the media, “We are pleased to welcome the new listings from the Government of Indonesia, the largest sovereign sukuk issuer on Nasdaq Dubai. This mounting presence of international issuers clearly underscores Dubai’s active role in promoting Islamic economy, Shari’a-compliant financial markets as well as supporting sustainable economic development across the world.”

This year in March, the UAE announced it will invest $10 billion with Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund, specifically focusing on sectors that have strong growth potential. According to state news agency WAM, the investment with the Indonesia Investment Authority follows the directives of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. The investment will focus on sectors including infrastructure, roads, ports, tourism, agriculture.

Currently, NASDAQ Dubai holds six green and one sustainable sukuk that has a total valuation of $6.55 billion, along with its regional involvement in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) sector. After seeing how Indonesian sukuk has been performing in the Middle East market, many central banks and sovereign wealth funds in Southeast Asia and the Middle East are intrigued in the investment, with a combined order book exceeding $10.3 billion.

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Mr. Muhammad Zubair, the CEO of AlHuda Center of Islamic Banking and Economics highlighted his views on the sector during the Islamic Banking workshop hosted by  AlHuda and Dashan Bank in Addis Ababa. In his opinion, Islamic Banking will not heighten financial inclusion in the country but focus more on Economic Development and Foreign Direct Investment that will in turn reduce poverty in the country.

A press release reads “Addressing to the workshop participants by recognising AlHuda services, Mr. Mesfin B. Yimam the Director of Interest free banking- Dashan Bank, said the demand of Islamic banking in Ethiopia is increasing tremendously and alike workshops would help to promote Interest free banking in the country. It is important to note that AlHuda Center of Islamic Banking and Economics aims to organise an International Islamic Banking conference in October 2018 in Ethiopia and 25 African countries are expected to participate in the conference.”

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31st July,2013

Nearly one-fifth of today’s global population – 1.2 billion people – lives without access to electricity. Their businesses can’t operate after dusk, their schools lack power for technology, their children struggle to study by candlelight. The lack of power limits their opportunities, keeping communities in poverty.

Two-fifths of the population – 2.8 billion people – still relies on solid fuel such as wood, charcoal, dung, and coal for cooking and heating, resulting in three and a half million deaths every year from the effects of indoor air pollution.

Delivering reliable energy services for economic development and providing access to electricity and modern household energy services to these billions living without it is essential to reducing poverty and building shared prosperity. That is why expanding access to energy, along with accelerating energy efficiency and renewable energy, is at the core of the World Bank Group’s future work in the energy sector, as described in a newEnergy Sector Directions Paper discussed by the Bank Group’s Executive Board on July 16. With the Executive Board’s support, the World Bank Group will use the paper to inform its operations going forward.

The paper states that the World Bank Group will make every effort to “minimize the financial and environmental costs of expanding reliable energy supply” while also recognizing that “each country determines its own path for achieving its energy aspirations.” It emphasizes the importance of selecting areas in which the Bank Group can best help countries mobilize energy solutions that reduce poverty sustainably.

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, who led the discussion with the Executive Board, said the paper’s directions are anchored in the World Bank Group’s overarching goals of reducing the global rate of extreme poverty to 3 percent by 2030 and fostering the income growth of the bottom 40 percent in every country.

“We need affordable energy to help end poverty and to build shared prosperity,” Kim said. “We will also scale up efforts to improve energy efficiency and increase renewable energy—according to countries’ needs and opportunities.”

Source : World Bank

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