IFN OnAir

Dunya Bashiti, the co-found and CEO of Capifly, talks to IFN's Nessreen Tamano about offering Islamic non-dilutive capital to tech start-ups in Jordan and plans to expand into the MENA region, starting with Saudi Arabia.

Malaysian infrastructure conglomerate YTL Corporation has been on Bursa Malaysia’s industry working group for the development of the Bursa Carbon Exchange since 2020. It is also an active carbon credit project developer in Southeast Asia. 

Marlena Kareem from ISFI speaks with Ralph Dixon, the executive director of sustainability at YTL and CEO of YTL-SV Carbon, about the development of the Malaysian VCM space, the challenges that the changing regulatory environment poses as well as the opportunities for Islamic sustainable finance. 

Malaysia is touted to be a leader in driving the Islamic sustainable finance agenda by its global peers. But has the country fully capitalized on its potential, and how can it harness these opportunities? Vineeta Tan speaks to Sharifatul Hanizah Said Ali, the head of Islamic capital market development at the Securities Commission Malaysia, to find out.  

Description: Saudia Arabia’s Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company (RVCMC) will facilitate the first-ever Islamic finance transaction with carbon credits as underlying assets this year, according to Riham ElGizy, CEO of the RVCMC. ISFI speaks to the RVCMC CEO to learn about the upcoming deal and the launch of the RVCMC exchange early next year. 

Saudi-based BLOMINVEST BANK has launched the GBP300 million (US$384.09 million) SAED Green UK Fund as its debut endeavor in the UK market. ISFI speaks to Abdullah Alrashoud, CEO and managing director of BLOMINVEST BANK, to learn more about the fund. 

Gatehouse Bank is looking to launch an additional financing product to existing customers to improve the energy efficiency of their homes this year. ISFI speaks to Andy Homer, the chief customer officer at Gatehouse Bank, to learn about how it works with its partners to develop Islamic sustainable products. 

Ficus Capital is targeting to close its inaugural Islamic Southeast Asian Tech Fund in the third quarter of this year. ISFI speaks to Rina Neoh, the managing partner of Ficus Capital, to learn about some of the challenges of managing an inaugural fund as well as how the venture capital firm has shifted its focus toward sustainability.

With escalating geopolitical tension weighing on the global economy, the banking and finance system is under immense pressure. Vineeta Tan speaks to Moody’s Investors Service’s analysts – Alexander Perjessy, Ashraf Madani and Mohammed Ali Londe to understand the implications on the Islamic finance industry.

In this episode, Vineeta Tan speaks to Mohammed Alim, CEO of IBF Net, which built the first Halal metaverse, to understand what the Halal virtual world is all about.  

Turkiye’s largest beet growers cooperative brand Kayseri Seker issued a TRY85 million (US$4.44 million) Sukuk in February 2022.  The facility was the first Sukuk to use a quota of crystal sugar as an underlying asset and was also the first Sukuk issued by a cooperative in Turkiye.  ISFI speaks to Dr Menevse Ozdemir Diliduzgun, the head of corporate finance and advisory at Halk Investment, and Ozgun Ozok, the managing partner of Ozok Law Firm, the legal advisor of the Sukuk, to learn more about this deal.