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Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: The Responsible Finance & Investment (RFI) Foundation held a roundtable last week focused on how Islamic financial institutions can apply principles of strategic philanthropy during the RFI Summit 2019. The roundtable opened with a keynote address by H.R.H. Princess Sarah Zeid who highlighted the critical importance of impact and innovation.
Addressing the roundtable, Princess Sarah said: “It is my great privilege to work and travel with UNHCR and the World Food Programme. If Islamic financial institutions show commitment and leadership through greater engagement with these organisations and others in the humanitarian sector, we can be the tipping point, shaping a financial, investment and business footprint reaching the most vulnerable.”
The roundtable was organised in partnership with Dubai Islamic Bank and the RFI Summit’s strategic philanthropic partner UNHCR, and hosted by INSEAD at its Middle East Campus in Abu Dhabi. The roundtable brought together leading humanitarian, development and Islamic finance organisations who agreed that they could create a consortium to develop and improve the process to link their decisions about specific philanthropic giving to their strategic objectives .
The recommendations from the roundtable, which were presented during the RFI Summit 2019 at Abu Dhabi Global Market, focus on improving the allocation, distribution and ultimate impact created by philanthropic giving by Islamic financial institutions. Participants agreed that innovations around impact investment provided new avenues for traditional forms of Islamic social finance such as zakat, waqf and sadaqa.
New sources of capital unlocked by a collaborative approach can be used to enhance the impact of existing Islamic social finance include donor philanthropy, impact investment and other forms of private capital. Participants shared tangible examples showing how these new sources of capital can address both the immediate needs of recipients as well as underlying root causes that will create greater need for humanitarian assistance.
A full list of recommendations from the “Islamic Finance & Strategic Philanthropy” session was presented during the RFI Summit 2019 for discussion during the ‘unconference’ session. The RFI Summit’s outcomes come in line with the theme “A New SRI: Can Sustainable, Responsible & Islamic Finance Deliver More Impact Together?” and will help to guide the RFI Foundation’s activities for the coming year.
About the Responsible Finance & Investment Summit 2019
The RFI Summit was held at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), a broad-based international financial centre for local, regional and international institutions, on 29 April 2019 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. A pre-Summit roundtable hosted by INSEAD on “Strategic Philanthropy and Islamic Finance” was held on 28 April with strategic partners Dubai Islamic Bank, and RFI Summit strategic philanthropy partner UNHCR and was followed by a CDIT Initiative roundtable organised with the MENA FinTech Association hosted by DDCAP Group at the Four Seasons Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island.
The RFI Summit 2019 brought together key stakeholders within responsible finance to build connections to new growth opportunities and more measurable impact. It plays a vital role in connecting representatives from across the global responsible finance industry to build on the growing cooperation between SRI, ESG and Islamic finance. Having concluded its fourth year, the RFI Summit is an initiative of the RFI Foundation and Swiss Arab Network to build awareness of shared values that can bring socially responsible investing (SRI), environmental, social and governance (ESG) and Islamic finance together to increase their positive impact.
About RFI Foundation
The RFI Foundation is a non-profit organisation with a mission to identify a neutral, nonpartisan and universal value proposition that encourages convergence of responsible finance practices. RFI evolves Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investing (SRI), Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and the Islamic finance sectors towards a convergence of their shared standards, and engages stakeholders to build the responsible finance industry as a catalyst to support equitable, inclusive and sustainable economic development. Visit us at www.rfi-foundation.org
About Swiss Arab Network
The Swiss Arab Network (SAN) is a non-profit networking organisation with headquarters in Zurich and affiliations in the Arab world that strives to bridge gaps, promote sustainable exchange and intensify the mutual understanding among Swiss and Arab people. SAN is a networking platform and organises events and gives speeches on topics like Swiss and Arab finance, business, culture, art and film. Established and high-profile organisations from Switzerland and the Arab world are members of the network. Visit us at www.swissarab.org
Media Contacts
Blake Goud, Chief Executive Officer, RFI Foundation:
blake.goud@rfi-foundation.org, www.rfi-foundation.org
Mounir Khouzami, Executive Board Member, Chairman of the Advisory Board and Co-Founder of Swiss Arab Network:
mounir.khouzami@swissarab.org, www.swissarab.org
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