Transactions on the Nasdaq Dubai Murabaha Platform for Islamic financing have exceeded a total of $100 billion, reflecting its popularity with corporate and individual users.

Established jointly by Nasdaq Dubai and Emirates Islamic, the platform meets needs ranging from funding for corporate growth and expansion to personal finance for retail customers. Transactions so far in 2018 have reached $28.8billion, up 23 per cent from the same period in 2017.

Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, chairman of Emirates Islamic, vice chairman and managing director of Emirates NBD, said: “We are delighted to be able to announce the $100 billion Murabaha milestone during Islamic Economy Week, during which Dubai is celebrating many achievements in Sharia’a-compliant finance and hosting discussions on how to further develop the sector. The platform is set to attract further regional and international entities to make use of its services on behalf of a growing range of businesses and individuals.“

Hamed Ali, chief executive of Nasdaq Dubai, said:“Customers of Sharia’a-compliant and conventional financial institutions benefit from the Nasdaq Dubai Murabaha Platform’s speed and efficiency, as well as its transparency and the fixed cost of transactions. We will further expand the user base of banks to support the development of Dubai as the capital of the Islamic Economy.”

Salah Mohammed Amin, chief executive officer of Emirates Islamic, said: “By combining international capital markets expertise with the standards of Sharia’a, our Murabaha platform gives financial institutions and their customers the confidence that all aspects of their Islamic financing needs are met. We are working with Nasdaq Dubai to expand the Murabaha platform and further enhance its efficiency.”

The versatility of the platform was demonstrated in February 2017 when the multilateral Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) made use of it to carry out a $150 million transaction that facilitated the issuance of a Sukuk. This was the first use of the platform by an African entity. – TradeArabia News Service