Islamic investment banking in Egypt RIDGE Islamic Capital (RIC), a Sharia-compliant investment bank, announced the launch of activities in Egypt last week. The company will be offering asset, wealth and fund management services that are compliant with the principles of Islamic law. The company said it would add brokerage to its activities at a later stage. RIC wants to capitalise on growing demand for Islamic finance instruments across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Egypt seeks to increase the market share of Islamic finance from five per cent to 35 per cent. Ritjana Ceveli, managing director of asset management, told Al-Ahram Weekly that for a company to be eligible for their investment not only does it have to be dealing in Sharia-compliant products but its financial structure has also got to be Sharia compliant. The Islamic investment bank is the financial arm of the Dubai based regional investment company Ridge Solutions International Holding, which is part of the Angola-based Ridge Solutions Group (RS). RIC was established after the acquisition of Al-Rashad, an Egyptian investment bank. "Islamic banking is considered the fastest growing segment in the global financial system with an annual growth rate of 10 to 15 per cent," Jose Ramis, chairman of Ridge Solutions, told reporters at a press conference launching the investment bank last week. One of the first initiatives by Ridge Islamic Capital is to set up a $150 million Islamic umbrella fund. Company management said the fund would be ready for launch by the end of this year or early 2013. It will cover the Middle East and North Africa. The company said that it would be capitalising its funds with 25 per cent of its own investments. Two more Endeavour entrepreneurs ENDEAVOUR Egypt, a leading non-profit organisation that supports entrepreneurs in Egypt, recently promoted two companies, Bey2ollak and Mashaweer, to meet Endeavour's international panel. Should they pass this stage, the two companies will become Endeavour Entrepreneurs. During Endeavour Egypt's 10th local selection panel, Mashaweer and Bey2ollak founders were interviewed by six of Endeavour Egypt's top mentors, where candidates with the most innovative, high-growth, scalable ventures and greatest promise to become future business leaders are selected. Both companies work in the service-provision field. Mashaweer offers its clients a "personal assistant" service for running errands. Bey2ollak has developed a phone application that helps drivers get through traffic by letting them know what roads to avoid and by proposing alternative roads to take. The local selection panel is the first step of a rigorous selection process to become an Endeavour Entrepreneur. After each local selection panel, the selected entrepreneurs proceed to the next level, the international selection panel, where they receive advice and feedback from regional and global mentors. Post-selection, Endeavour starts providing its high-impact entrepreneurs with various services, networking opportunities and strategic advice, enabling them to reach their full potential.
