BAHRAIN, 25 March 2005 — A new Shariah compliant investment fund, which offers an opportunity to invest in the telecommunication sector of countries in the Middle East and Africa, was launched on Wednesday night.
The Bahrain Monetary Agency will regulate the Al-Tawfeek Arab Telecommunication Fund. “This is the first regional Shariah compliant telecom fund in the Middle East & Africa region,” Hassan Salim Al-Ammari, chief executive officer of Al-Tawfeek Company for Investment Funds Ltd., a member of the Dallah Al-Baraka Group, which has launched the fund, told a press conference, followed by a presentation for investors, brokers and all related agencies, at Sheraton Bahrain Hotel & Towers in Manama.
The fund is open-ended with a target capital of $500 million and will invest in listed and unlisted Shariah compliant equity and equity-related securities of telecommunications and related infrastructure companies established or operating in the region.
The new fund is also aimed to broaden Al-Tawfeek’s range of investment funds and provide investors with an opportunity to invest in a recently liberalized industry, where cellular telecommunications is in the early stage of the industry lifecycle and the successful experience of developed markets is being replicated in the region.
The region is at the center of attention due to potential growth resulting from unfulfilled demand. Africa, for example, has the highest subscriber growth rate in the world. It recorded a 37 percent subscriber growth rate in 2003. However, penetration is as low as 5.3 percent, “which indicates high potential for future growth and highly profitable investment opportunities for the fund to invest in,” Al-Ammari said.
Several mobile opportunities are available in the region, as Tunisia Telecom and Oman Telecom privatizations are expected to materialize in 2003. In 2006, Iraq’s all three mobile licenses are expected to be for sale or renewal. Al-Tawfeek, a specialist financial investment company incorporated in 1992 in the Cayman Islands, is a leading provider of Shariah compliant investment funds.
“Al-Tawfeek’s strategy is primarily aimed to provide investors with superior Shariah compliant investment opportunities in an increasingly competitive market,” Dhafer Salih Al-Qahtani, Jeddah-based general manager at the general directorate of specialized funds of Al-Tawfeek Co. for Investment Funds, said. The company is the fund’s sponsor, registrar and placement agent.
Since its inception, Al-Tawfeek has launched a number of Shariah compliant investment funds covering a variety of asset classes including equities, corporate debt, real estate, private equity, venture capital, leasing and reconstruction. “Al-Tawfeek has yielded high returns for its investors in a number of Shariah compliant investment funds,” Adnan Ahmed Yousif, chief executive officer of the Manama-based Al-Baraka Banking Group, said, adding that the new Al-Tawfeek Arab Telecommunication Fund is an open-ended collective investment scheme, established in Bahrain with the objective of achieving long-term capital appreciation while adhering to the principles of Shariah. The fund offers monthly liquidity after 12 months with a minimum subscription of $25,000 for individuals and $100,000 for institutions.
Maha Baligh, chairperson and managing director of Egyptian Portfolio Management Group, member of EPG-Hermes Group, gave a presentation on the track record of the Egypt-based group as a fund manager.
EPG-Hermes has a “strong track record” in investing in the telecommunication sector in the Middle East and Africa, said Maha who was accompanied by Yasmin I. Hassan, vice president of the Egypt-based EFG-Hermes Asset Management. In addition, EPG-Hermes has successfully completed a variety of transactions for a number of leading regional and international telecommunication companies like Vodafone plc.
EFG-Hermes was the sole financial advisory to Vodafone in the creation of Misrfone, Egypt’s second GSM network and also acted as the financial advisor on the acquisition by Mobile Telecommunications Company of Kuwait of a 91.6 percent stake in Jordan’s leading mobile operator Fastlink and in 2003, through a consortium co-headed with Goldman Sachs and Riyad Bank, was mandated to advise the Saudi Communication and Information Technology Commission on the issuance of the Kingdom’s second GSM and Data licenses. Custody and administration of the fund has been delegated to Gulf Clearing Company (GCC), Bahrain, a subsidiary of GCC Kuwait established in 2003. GCC is one of the leading fund custody and administration service providers.