By integrating Islamic finance with proven entrepreneurship and business counseling interventions, IFETAA will empower MSMEs to become bankable, resilient, and key drivers of inclusive economic growth
VIENNA, Austria, June 17, 2025/APO Group/ --
Today, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) (www.AfricaFC.org), UNIDO, the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and the Union of Arab Banks (UAB), formalized new strategic partnerships under the Islamic and Arab Finance for Economic Transformation in Africa, the Arab Region and Beyond (IFETAA) Programme.

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), UNIDO, the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and the Union of Arab Banks (UAB), formalized new strategic partnerships under the Islamic and Arab Finance for Economic Transformation in Africa, the Arab Region and Beyond (IFETAA) Programme (1)

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), UNIDO, the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and the Union of Arab Banks (UAB), formalized new strategic partnerships under the Islamic and Arab Finance for Economic Transformation in Africa, the Arab Region and Beyond (IFETAA) Programme (2)
Access to finance remains one of the most significant barriers to SME growth and economic transformation, particularly in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Only one in five African firms has access to credit, and those that do often face prohibitively high interest rates averaging 25 percent, compared to just 5 percent in Europe. Islamic finance, with over US$4 trillion in assets, offers a largely untapped opportunity to address this gap by directing capital stored in monetary markets into the real economy.
IFETAA represents a new alliance that will drive capital and capacity towards MSME development, resilience and growth across low- and lower middle-income countries. The signing ceremonies of the 3 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) took place ahead of a high-level roundtable at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, held on the margins of the OPEC Fund Development Forum, and marked the formalization of the programme.
“As traditional development funding continues to decline, Islamic and Arab financial institutions are emerging as key partners in driving industrialization and sustainable development”, said UNIDO Director General Gerd Müller. “Through this programme, we are building a powerful new alliance to support small and medium-sized businesses, increase productivity and resilience, and accelerate economic transformation in developing countries”.
“The IFETAA Programme will unlock urgently needed capital for Africa’s economic transformation and AFC is proud to bring its unique expertise in both conventional and Islamic finance to mobilise funding at scale,” said Banji Fehintola, Board Member and Head of Financial Services at AFC. “As an issuer, guarantor, and investor, we are committed to delivering innovative, Shariah-compliant solutions that drive inclusive and resilient economic growth, whilst contributing to strengthening the south-south cooperation required to advance our shared development goals”.
H.E. Shaikh Ebrahim Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chairman of AAOIFI and the International Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation announced that “AAOIFI is proud to contribute to this transformative partnership, which aligns Islamic finance with global development priorities and encourages Islamic financial institutions to voluntarily dedicate at least 20% of their financing – over US$1 trillion – to MSME development. We will work on developing a Shariah-compliant finance programme enriched with technical assistance, regulatory support, and capacity building. IFETAA will also leverage UNIDO’s globally recognized Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion model (EDIP)”.
By integrating Islamic finance with proven entrepreneurship and business counseling interventions, IFETAA will empower MSMEs to become bankable, resilient, and key drivers of inclusive economic growth.
Dr. Wissam Fattouh, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Banks, stated: “IFETAA is more than a programme – it is a call to action. The Union of Arab Banks is proud to unite Islamic and Arab financial power to serve sustainable development and economic sovereignty. We are mobilizing capital not just to fund growth, but to shape the future of our region. This is about empowering MSMEs, restoring trust in financial systems, and building resilient, inclusive economies”.
IFETAA is a direct outcome of the commitments made at UNIDO’s A World Without Hunger conference in Addis Ababa in 2024. There, AAOIFI pledged to mobilize 20 percent of Islamic Financial Institutions’ loans and advancements towards MSME development, while UAB reaffirmed its commitment to channel US$1 trillion from its member banks towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). AFC, a close partner to UNIDO, expressed its support through its financial mechanisms and expertise. IFETAA will facilitate access to finance by developing a pipeline of bankable MSME projects, establish financial and non-financial de-risking mechanisms, and support host governments in strengthening regulatory frameworks to expand Islamic and conventional bank lending.
UNIDO has committed US$500,000 to support the preparation of the IFETAA programme and its initial implementation, which is co-led by the UNIDO Task Force on Islamic and Arab Financing and UNIDO’s Investment and Technology Promotion Office in Bahrain.
Each of the partner institutions brings unique strengths to the programme. AAOIFI, headquartered in Bahrain, is the world’s leading standard-setting body for Islamic finance and plays a critical role in ensuring Shariah compliance and supporting regulators and financial institutions globally. Beirut-based UAB represents over 300 Arab banks and financial institutions while serving as a regional platform for aligning Arab banking practices with global trends, including Islamic finance, ESG, and digital transformation. AFC is a pan-African multilateral financial institution specializing in infrastructure development. It has been expanding its use of Islamic finance instruments, recently closing a US$400 million Shariah-compliant Commodity Murabaha facility. AFC made history in 2017 by issuing a US$230 million Sukuk, the first-ever by an African supranational institution.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).
I hope this guy is as good as he sound, he is a civil engineer and he used to be part of Oslo town planning.
no need to be an engeener to pick up the trash kkkk
You're right, one doesn't have to be an Eng. to be a mayor of a city but at least the new mayor's credentials and his previous experience will help to improve the basic infrastructure of the capital.
they say aqoon baa talisa and Eng. Warasame Yusuf Said has knowledge and background experience to do the job the way its supposed to be done in order to uplift the capital city to new heights and i pray to all mighty allah that he succeeds in this endeavour.
Unfortunately i believe he will be starting from pretty much scratch as i doubt the preceding mayor left behind any system of note because you had unfortunately people running the capital city who believe all you need to do the job was simply tarmac few roads. What happened in the last 10 yrs to setting up system of waste collection/disposal, post coding, street naming, Street Lightings etc.
It would have been nice to have made some headway's in all the aforesaid but as they say its better late than never.
@ayanle.
bro pick up garbage its not simple, hargueisa is big city.
yep but its the big elephant in the room here ! you can't pretend to have done something as hargeisa mayor
while the 2nd somali city in term of size is full of trash !
Trash over new road it is a simple matter of priority !
ayanle lets not forget that hargaisa is probably the cleanest somali city and that it is unclean compared to first world cities.
Morgan was not only a tribalist who attacked Somalilanders but he also attacked Hawyie. He hated any other then him self. Fact. See this
yea-yea,
It was civil war time every war lord done the same if not worst wthether usc ,snm or ssdf……..
LOL at mohamed ina darood, Snm where not war lords so stop getting your facts from daroodfacts.com
Tell them Kaboon…
SNM did not occupy any part of Somalia-Italia. We were fighting as two States and all the crime was committed by the clans of Somalia-Italia: SNM secured Somaliland Republic and stayed out of Somalia-Italia. They destroyed their own country and now wish to cry about it.
– Abogaalo
– XarBir Digir
– Majareer
– Mareerxaar
– Baroweyni(Pilot)
– Raxoweyn
Somalilander was destroyed by you people and then you destroyed your own country. No Somaliland fired a single bullet in Somalia-Federation aka Somalia-Italia.
They though they could mess with the mighty HAWIYE nation only to end up beating their weak chest for no reason lol.
Many aggressors tried to f@@k with us only to end up leaving with their tails behind their legs even including the worlds only superpower and now some of those we defeated longtime ago their sons are starting to beat their weak chest.
I GUESS SOME NEVER LEARN FROM HISTORY UNTIL ITS TOO LATE AND END UP RECEIVING A ASS WHOOPING THEMSELVES
Who knows what clan this guy comes from btw?
what a stupid question to ask.
Fake Nura, how low and disgusting can you get
Nura, I don't think it’s necessary to know his clan, but rather what he can deliver to help the city and its inhabitants. Hargeisans are eager for badly needed services and equal distribution of development projects. I believe Yusuf is an honest and descent man; someone who can deliver the promises he made for the people of Hargeisa during the campaign. That is all.
Hargeisa is metropolitan city where all the fabrics of Somaliland people reside, and it does not need a mayor from a certain tribe or group, but someone who knows what it takes to develop this neglected city since 1960, but destroyed what the people of this city have built in their own. I remember, the only building that they [former Somali governments] made in Hargeisa was and still is the current ministry of interior, and nothing else.
Let us all pray for the newly elected council will develop the landscape of Hargeisa with the meager tax collection from the mother who sells tomatoes in the street of Hargeisa and the small business that exists now. The target of this mayor and his team should be the business heavyweights of Hargeisa to pay the tax that they always evade or avoid to pay, and should be shared by the local government and the central government, at least to some extend [that is if we want to develop the city, and made a capital of Somaliland].
ignore the fake kayse. this guy is only mayor in sacad muse corner.
Welcome Hon Yusuf Warsame Said and good luck with your new role.Hargeisa is our capital and I hope you give it all the necessary attention to develop it and uplift it.
The new mayor has to outline his agenda and make the city annual budget public.Since he has lived in western world, he knows what the citizen of the city demands and he has to lead by good example.
Also I want to remind my fellow and beloved Landers that what folks like Kayse want to do is distract us from our mission to make this country great!
So lets focus extra hard on how we can make this Republic stronger we owe that much to our those who sacrificed so much for this day!
Every time they post a hateful comment, I want a Lander to put a comment with a solution to any problem we face in our nation. Every time they post some rubbish I want a Lander to post a new angle, a new idea of making what we currently have even stronger.
Lets use their hate to our advantage! Lets make it a challenge whoever can come up with the most gets a free $100 ( or whatever) gift card to the shop of their choosing etc….
I aslo Challenge Fa q@ @shawipress that instead of giving our enemies a voice on our media platforms that it once and for all prove its allegiance to Somaliland and its people by holding a online contest to its readers on how to make Somalilander better! Challenge our young and old from home and the diaspora to contribute meaningful ideas and then reward with acknowledgement on your site, perhaps even an interview! I DARE YOU! CAAARRRRR!
Lol@ part of Oslo town planning!. An African cannot get a job as a janitor in the city planning department of Osly. Alla maxaa masaakiinta been lagu maaweelinayaa. Maxay u qabtaan dalka madaxda la doortaa? Waxba. Waxay qurbajoogtu u tagaan dalka inay xoogaa ka soo lufluftaan ee dalka wax u qabo uma tagaan. Caasimaddu ma haysato, laydh, biyo iyo jidad fiican, kuddaafaddana lagama guro ( garbage disposal ). Bal wax kale yayba qabanee, kuddaafadda magaalada ha ka gureen, si aanay dadka caafimaadkood u saamayn.
I am not sure how often the Somaliland people who had a chance to run away the war and bettter themselves in Western countries rule in Somaliland. While others either fled to Refugee camps in Ethopia or stayed close by and have done so much for the country are unemployed . Someone has to run higher office in the country not coming from Europe or worked in Europe, but having very good experience and again people stayed in the country should be given priority, as they deserve more than others.
.Yusuf Warsame is the newly elected mayor of Hargeisa and he is the mayor to all Hargeisans. Let's give the guy a chance and see his work. Let’s stop these destructive clannish tendencies and build our country collectively. In particular, those so called Diaspora, who are so narrow minded and could not achieve anything worthwhile in the west. The only thing they spend their idle time is to talk about distractive clanism and the demise of our people and the peace and stability that we built for twenty years. Those against Somaliland are eagerly waiting the dissolution of Somaliland, but that will never happen “over my dead body”.
Please. Stop this nonsensical and empty rhetoric and strive to work for the good of Somaliland.
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