Manama: With an estimated $1.5trillion held by Trust in the region can be a major source of funding and potentially can fuel the growth across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), according to an expert.
This was the crux of the Wall Street investment banker Dr. Hani Findakly of the Clinton Group discussion shared his insights on the role of technology in promoting a “mirage” of commodity-driven growth.
He views the Oil prices, one of the biggest macro forces affecting the growth and development of Islamic finance, and was one of critical discussion points at on the final day of the World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC).
The discussion kick-started with an engaging analysis on the future of commodities in the ‘new – new normal’ era by a former CIO of the World Bank. He emphasized that the Islamic institution of awqaf constitutes a potentially huge source of funding for investments in the MENA region. The Awqaf system, which according to his own estimates holds over USD1.5 trillion, can be used to energize economies and employment: “In the context of this Islamic Banking conference, it is high time to recognize the critical importance of one of the largest resource in the Islamic world: the Waqf (or Islamic trust) system…much of it [is] in idle assets, spread across the globe from Morocco to Egypt, to Saudi Arabia and across Asia in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, among others. Some of it can be unlocked to transform the economies of many countries by funding start-ups and venture-capital businesses to accelerate innovation, job creation, and dynamic growth.”
