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CIBAFI Submitted Comments to the AAOIFI on its Exposure Draft on Governance Standard for Islamic Financial Institutions (GSIFI) No. 10: “Shariah Compliance and Fiduciary Ratings for Islamic Financial Institutions”

Source: Africa Press Organisation – English – Report:

Headline: CIBAFI Submitted Comments to the AAOIFI on its Exposure Draft on Governance Standard for Islamic Financial Institutions (GSIFI) No. 10: “Shariah Compliance and Fiduciary Ratings for Islamic Financial Institutions”

Aligned with its role as advocate of the Islamic Financial Services Industry (IFSI), the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI) (www.CIBAFI.org), the global umbrella of Islamic financial institutions, announced that it has provided its comments to the Accounting & Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) on its Exposure Draft (ED) on Governance Standard for Islamic Financial Institutions (GSIFI) No. 10: “Shariah Compliance and Fiduciary Ratings for Islamic Financial Institutions”.

In its submission, CIBAFI thanked the AAOIFI for giving the opportunity to the Islamic financial services industry stakeholders to comment on its GSIFI No. 10 before its issuance and provided comments comprising key points as well as detailed analysis.

Fundamentally, CIBAFI members raised some concerns on the purpose of the ED and potential parties that would be interested in it. Hence it was not explicitly clear how far customers and other counterparties would understand and use ratings of this kind, therefore whether they would have any commercial value. On the other hand, any regulator with a sufficient interest in Shariah governance to consider mandating such a rating would be more likely to impose Shariah governance requirements on firms and supervise them directly. It is therefore unclear how Shariah compliance ratings would fit into the Shariah governance structure in different jurisdictions. This in turn raises the question of what purpose a standard in this area would serve for the Islamic finance industry.

On a separate note, CIBAFI recommended for more time to be spent on having discussions and views with different stakeholders from different jurisdictions, and involvement perhaps of few rating agencies in the process to avoid any biased views and opinions.

In its submission to the AAOIFI, CIBAFI expressed its appreciation of the work that the AAOIFI does to maintain sound practices of the IFSI. Full comments to the AAOIFI are available on CIBAFI website www.CIBAFI.org

In addition to policy and regulatory advocacy, CIBAFI continues to support the IFSI through various activities and initiatives. These include providing industry stakeholders with a platform to discuss emerging issues, representing the industry at major global financial events, and sharing knowledge through specialised research and publications, and comprehensive professional development programmes. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI).

For more information about CIBAFI, please visit www.CIBAFI.org 
Tel: +973 17357300  Email: Media@CIBAFI.org

About the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI)
CIBAFI (www.CIBAFI.org) is an international organization established in 2001 and Headquartered in the Kingdom of Bahrain. CIBAFI is affiliated with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).  CIBAFI represents the Islamic financial services industry globally, defending and promoting its role, consolidating co-operation among its members, and with other institutions with similar interests and objectives. With over 120 members from more than 32 jurisdictions, representing market players, international intergovernmental organizations and professional firms, and industry associations.

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Internet Society and African IXP Association Partner with South Africa’s Internet Service Providers’ Association for Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF) at iWeek

Source: Africa Press Organisation – English – Report:

Headline: Internet Society and African IXP Association Partner with South Africa’s Internet Service Providers’ Association for Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF) at iWeek

The Internet Society (www.InternetSociety.org) and African IXP Association (AFIX) (www.AF-IX.net) have announced that they will hold the 9th annual Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF) in Cape Town, South Africa hosted by the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) (www.ISPA.org.za). The conference will be held from 21-23 of August 2018 in conjunction with iWeek, South Africa’s leading Internet industry conference, which will run from 20-24 August 2018.

AfPIF is an annual event that serves as a platform to expand and develop the African Internet. It connects infrastructure, service, and content providers with policymakers in order to identify and discuss ways to improve network interconnection, lower the cost of connectivity, and increase the number of users in the region. Over 200 participants attended last year’s AfPIF in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire including providers of international, regional, and sub-regional transport, transit, and content as well as more than 20 IXPs from Africa and beyond.

This year’s event will be hosted in South Africa, home to the oldest Internet Exchange Point (IXP) in Africa, the highest density of IXPs per city in Africa, and the largest carrier neutral data center in Africa. As a thriving terrestrial infrastructure market and the continent’s most mature peering ecosystem, South Africa will provide a unique opportunity for attendees to learn from its remarkable experiences and explore a growing number of opportunities in the region.

“The African IXP Association has been absolutely amazed by South Africa’s rapid development and is proud to host this year’s AfPIF in Cape Town. We all benefit from their innovation and continued success, and hope that our collective presence will provide additional momentum” said Kyle Spencer, Co-Coordinator of the African IXP Association.

“We are delighted to be hosting AfPIF at iWeek for the very first time. This is a fantastic example of the kind of pan-African ICT cooperation envisioned by the Abuja and OR Tambo declarations of the 1990s,” said ISPA Chair, Graham Beneke.

“The first AfPIF was held in 2010 by the Internet Society from the realization that most of African Internet traffic is exchanged outside the continent, and the region could save costs by exchanging the Internet traffic locally. The target is to have at least 80% of the Internet traffic consumed in Africa being locally accessible, and only 20% sourced outside the continent by the year 2020. We are getting closer to that target every year thanks to AfPIF and many activities that promote interconnection and hosting in Africa”, says Dawit Bekele, Regional Bureau Director for Africa at Internet Society.

Internet Peering is a business relationship whereby two network operators agree to provide access to each other’s network at no cost. Internet users throughout Africa benefit from Peering as it enables faster, more affordable, and more reliable access to content.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Internet Society (ISOC).

Media contacts:
Betel Hailu
Internet Society
Hailu@ISOC.org

Elaine Zinn 
ISPA 
Elaine@ff.co.za

About the Internet Society
Founded by Internet pioneers, the Internet Society (ISOC) (www.InternetSociety.org) is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet. Working through a global community of chapters and members, the Internet Society collaborates with a broad range of groups to promote the technologies that keep the Internet safe and secure, and advocates for policies that enable universal access. The Internet Society is also the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). For more information visit www.InternetSociety.org.

About AF-IX
The African IXP Association (AFIX) (www.AF-IX.net) is a group of Internet exchange point operators from across Africa, brought together by a shared need to coordinate and exchange knowledge. It aims to foster an enabling environment for IXP operators, improve connectivity within the continent, and increase the Internet’s value for all. AFIX was established in 2012, joined the Internet eXchange Federation (IX-F) in 2014, and now organizes the annual African Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF).

About ISPA
ISPA NPC (www.ISPA.org.za) is a non-profit company, and a recognized industry body which has represented the interests of ISPs since 1996. ISPA has co-hosted the annual iWeek industry conference since 2001, bringing together business, government, civil society and members of the public to debate technical, policy and business matters relating to the Internet sector in South Africa. ISPA works with many different partners to ensure that iWeek includes fresh and relevant content each year and is thrilled to be hosting AfPIF during iWeek this year.  For more on the association visit www.ISPA.org.za.

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Press Release of Ministry of Urban Development and Housing – 5 March, 2018

Source: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – Report:

Headline: Press Release of Ministry of Urban Development and Housing – 5 March, 2018

Ministry of Urban Development and Housing have spent 85.58% of its budget development.
Today Ms. Nilofar Langar, Spokesperson of Ministry of Urban Development and Housing said “This amount has been used for the initiation of 89 various construction projects for other ministries, other construction projects, consultation and procurement of materials. There was a total of 104 MoUs for procurement” at GMIC.

In this year, the construction of more than 31 thousand residential units is either completed, or they are under construction, or there are commitments for their constructions. “The design of China’s residential project, completion of planning for Qatar, Kamakuddin Behzad and Qasim Abad Nangarhar projects, and preparation of Lala project to be launched and distributed to the employees for the judicial sector are among our significant achievements,” Ms. Nilofar added.
Moreover, in Financial Year (FY) 1396 Ministry of Urban Development and Housing received a USD 20 million city development project from the World Bank for strategic planning of nine major cities. Furthermore, two new master plans were developed, six previous master plans were revised and 20 detailed plans were developed by expert urban engineers.

She emphasized that during FY 1396, they have completed 45 projects of constructing administrative buildings, residential blocks, buildings for provincial councils, conference halls, guest houses and administrative buildings for municipality directorates in the provinces. She also added that the design and planning of reconstruction of 14 mosques in 10 provinces have been completed.
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Black Industrialists explore opportunities in Mozambique

Source: South Africa News Agency

South Africa’s black industrialists are this week exploring trade and investment opportunities in Mozambique.

Led by the Department of Trade and Industry (dti), the delegation will participate in a Bilateral Business Forum with the Confederation of Associations of Mozambique (CTA).

The delegation, which also comprises representatives of the Developmental Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), the Central Energy Fund (CEF), Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa and members of the Board Based Black Economic Empowerment Advisory Council, among others, will also partake in business-to-business networking sessions and site visits. 

Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said the mission which got underway on Sunday is undertaken to address the second pillar of the Black Industrialist Policy, which speaks to access to markets both locally and continentally.    

“Mozambique forms part of the top-five South African partners on the continent and has since addressed a series of macroeconomic reforms designed to stabilise its economy. These reforms along with its political stability since multi-party elections of 1994 have led to dramatic improvements in its growth rate. It is of the outmost importance that we intensify the strength of our relations, especially in the area of economic cooperation and investment,” said Minister Davies.

Launched in March 2016, the Black Industrialists Programme was developed as an intervention to nurture, support and take black industrialists to the next level.

Cabinet approved the Black Industrialists Policy which aligns with the Industrial Policy Action Plan, the National Development Plan and the Nine Point Plan in November 2015.

On Sunday, Minister Davies said the trade mission to Mozambique is one of several missions that the dti has invested in, to ensure that Black Industrialists participate in Intra-Africa Trade opportunities, while also forging networks and partnerships with relevant businesses and industry associations with the market.

The trade and investment mission will conclude on Saturday. – SAnews.gov.za

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Community Healthcare Workers to be paid this week

Source: South Africa News Agency

The two drivers, whose vehicles were loaded with mandrax tablets worth nearly R3.3 million, are expected to appear before the Kraaifontein Magistrate’s Court today.

The two were arrested on Saturday in Kraaifontein, Cape Town, in an intelligence-driven operation by the Hawks’ South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (SANEB) and Crime … See more

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Dangote Donates N1.2 Billion to First Business School in the North to Bayero University, Kano

Source: Africa Press Organisation – English – Report:

Headline: Dangote Donates N1.2 Billion to First Business School in the North to Bayero University, Kano

The business educational development of Northern Nigeria took a new turn at the weekend when the renowned businessman, Aliko DANGOTE donated a N1.2 billion ultra-modern business school edifice to the Bayero University, Kano, (BUK), first of such in the northern part of the country.

Christened Dangote Business School, the business mogul disclosed that talks are on to affiliate the school with the popular Harvard Business School, in the United States of America.

Speaking to a group at the opening of the School at the new site of the University, Dangote stated that no effort was spared to ensure that the school, building gate was up to international standard and one of the biggest in the sub-Saharan Africa.

Dangote said the Business School, which was commissioned by the Kano State Governor, Abdulzhi Umar Ganduje, was conceived as part of the contributions of the Nigeria’s business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote towards encouraging world class entrepreneurship education at the highest level in Nigeria.

He described the School as best of its kind in northern Nigeria, adding that the School, as accredited by the Nigerian University Commission, will be the first business school to offer Doctor of Business Administration PhD. program in Nigeria.

Africa’s richest man added that the business school would ease sharing of business information globally and how future African leaders could advance their businesses as well as building capacity which would translate to boosting the continent’s economy.

Dangote traced the journey of the construction of the school to the days of Prof Attahir Jigawa as the Vice Chancellor of the University when he pleaded with him to help in the establishment of a business school that can accelerate entrepreneurship in the country.

He said he agreed to build the edifice because of his conviction that good quality education is the bedrock of meaningful development in the country and only a sound mind can facilitate development.

The school, according to him, will train African Business leaders by carrying out research on how Nigerians can do business in the very particular kind of environment and succeed.

On his part, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Muhammed Yahuza Bello said with the new business school, the university is now poised to serve the society better through training, research and services.

He said the university adopted the name “Dangote Business School”, because the name Dangote (http://Dangote.com) is internationally synonymous with innovation, entrepreneurship and successes in business and industry and pledged that the school will live by its name and tradition.

Explaining the uniqueness of the school, he stated that the new structure comprises 650 seating capacity auditorium, two theaters, four lecture halls, two libraries, incubation center, two cafeterias, 800kva soundproof generator and borehole among others.

In their separate remarks, Gov. Ganduje, represented by his Deputy, Prof. Hafeez Abubakar, his Jigawa State Counterpart, Gov. Muhammed Badaru Abubakar and the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II showered accolades on Alhaji Aliko Dangote for his several interventions in various sectors in the State and beyond, urging other wealthy individuals to emulate.

Kano Deputy Governor, Professor Abubakar who represented Gov Ganduje said Nigerians have a lot to learn from Alhaji Dangote whose wealth has no influence on his humility and is ever willing to do for his immediate environment and make the society better.

He pleaded with the University authority to grant Alhaji Dangote opportunity to lecture once in a while in the school, even if it’s an interactive session because he has a lot to offer beyond available in the text books as a successful business man.

Emir Sanusi said what Dangote has done is what he has always advocated for other Nigerians to do and that until Nigeria gets her education right a lot of things may not fall in place as expected.

He expressed his appreciation to Alhaji Dangote for rising up to the occasion each time he calls on him to do one thing or the other in the interest of the society.

Emir Sanusi urged other well meaning Nigerians to emulate him and contribute to the development of their society

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Dangote Group.

Media Contact:
Francis Awowole-Browne
Francis.Awowole@Dangote.com
+234 806 630 4898

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#AIS2018: Registration Open Now!

Source: Africa Press Organisation – English – Report:

Headline: #AIS2018: Registration Open Now!

The registration is now open for the second edition of the Africa Innovation Summit (AIS2018) (www.AfricaInnovationSummit.com), to be held in Kigali, Rwanda from 6 to 8 June 2018.

REGISTER NOW!!! (https://goo.gl/6kxCJ5).

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Innovation Summit.

For further information please visit our website (www.AfricaInnovationSummit.com) and/or contact us (Info@AfricaInnovationSummit.com). 

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Two nabbed for mandrax worth R3.3m

Source: South Africa News Agency

The two drivers, whose vehciles were loaded with mandrax tablets worth nearly R3.3 million, are expected to appear before the Kraaifontein Magistrate’s Court today.

The two were arrested on Saturday in Kraaifontein, Cape Town, in an intelligence-driven operation by the Hawks’ South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (SANEB) and Crime Intelligence.

The Hawks led team spotted the truck off-loading boxes onto a private vehicle in Acacia street, Kraaifontein Industrial Area.

Upon conducting a search, Hawks spokesperson Captain Philani Nkwalase said they found 73 packets, each containing 1000 Mandrax tablets. The two suspects aged 26 and 53 were arrested.  

Nkwalase said the preliminary investigation revealed that the drugs were in transit from Gauteng to Cape Town. 

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, three suspects were arrested by the Hawks in partnership with Crime Intelligence, K9 unit as well as the Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries last Thursday for possession and transporting illegally poached abalone.

The multi-disciplinary team swiftly acted on the information and intercepted two vehicles at Klapmuts headed towards Paarl on the R44 near the N1, transporting the abalone.

During a search of the vehicle, members managed to confiscate almost 1011.8 kg of poached abalone worth over R1.5 million.

The two vehicles have also been seized pending further investigations.

The trio will also appear at the Paarl Magistrate court today. – SAnews.gov.za  

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No need to panic over land reform

Source: South Africa News Agency

International Relations and Cooperation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has called on the international community not to panic over the Parliamentary process on land reform.

“There is no need to panic or be alarmist,” said Minister Sisulu in a statement on Sunday, reacting to a number of international organizations and individuals commenting on the parliamentary processes.

Last week’s resolution by Members of Parliament to assign the Constitutional Review Committee to review Section 25 of the Constitution, which speaks to allowing land expropriation without compensation and the right of property ownership was passed.

Section 25(2) of the Constitution currently states that property may be expropriated only in terms of law of general application for a public purpose or in the public interest, and subject to compensation.

Section 25(3) makes clear that the amount of the compensation and the time and manner of payment must be just and equitable, reflecting an equitable balance between the public interest and the interests of those affected, having regard to all relevant circumstances, in the current use of the property; the history of the acquisition and use of the property; the market value of the property; the extent of direct state investment and subsidy in the acquisition and beneficial capital improvement of the property.

The resolution has now be referred to the Constitutional Review Committee, which must report back to Parliament by 30 August.

Minister Sisulu said the matter is being handled properly for the benefit of all South Africans and that the views and concerns of all South African stakeholders will be considered during the Parliamentary processes.

The Minister added that Parliament will take a decision for the benefit of all South Africans.

“There is a parliamentary process underway and all stakeholders, domestic and international, must respect that process and also take advantage of that process to make their input. The President remains committed to engaging all stakeholders during this process.

“The international community played an important role in the fight against apartheid and all its repressive and discriminatory policies. We invite members of the international community to continue supporting our efforts to reverse the legacy of apartheid,” Minister Sisulu added. – SAnews.gov.za

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SA to engage US on steel, aluminium tariffs

Source: South Africa News Agency

The Department of Trade and Industry is engaging the United States on its decision to impose a global tariff of 25% on imports of steel and of 10% on imports of aluminium.

“The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) is fully engaged with the matter and has undertaken discussions with the United States in a number of forums,” said the department on Friday.

This as US President Donald Trump held a listening session with representatives from large steel and aluminium companies on Thursday. At the session, President Trump heard concerns relating to imports of steel and aluminium raised by US companies.

During the question and answer session, the President announced the decision to impose a global tariff of 25% on imports of steel and of 10% on imports of aluminium.

The duties will be applicable to all importers into the US market. This as the White House or the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) and Commerce Department are yet to release an official statement on the duties or how the duties would be implemented.

In its reaction to the decision, the dti is meeting with South African companies that have export interests in the US to ascertain the possible impact of the proposed measures.

“The dti is also assessing the compatibility of the proposed measures with the rules of the World Trade Organisation,” it said.

SA steel exports

South Africa’s exports to the US of steel amounted to US$950 million in 2017 and accounted for 1.4% of the US’ global imports.

In the case of aluminium, South African exports were US$375 million in 2017, accounting for 1.6% of U.S. imports from all global suppliers.

“It is clear that South African exports do not impose a threat to US industry and jobs. South African exports are in some cases used as inputs into further processes in the US manufacturing sector thus contributing to US jobs and production,” said the department.

In addition, the department will brief the media on the matter soon. – SAnews.gov.za