Djibouti - The 12th Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) will take place on September 14, 2022, at the Kempinski Palace in Djibouti, Africa. The event will be hosted by His Excellency Ismail Omar Guelleh, the President of Djibouti, while His Excellency Abiy Ahmed, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia will be the Chief Guest of the ceremony.

Edbiz International Advisors has been organising the Global Islamic Finance Awards since 2011. The Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) was founded as part of the advocacy campaign for the Islamic banking and finance industry. Since then, it has been held annually with its top award – the Global Islamic Finance Leadership Award – presented to heads of state or government (or equivalent) for their leadership and advocacy roles in promoting Islamic banking and finance in their respective jurisdictions or globally. The winners of the prestigious GIFA award are recognised as GIFA Laureates.

“This is indeed a matter of huge pride for us that the Summit and Awards are being hosted by His Excellency Ismail Omar Guelleh who was our GIFA Laureate in 2017 when GIFA was hosted by the then President of Kazakhstan, His Excellency Nursultan Nazarbayev,” said Professor Humayon Dar, Founder of GIFA. “We are the only awards body that have honoured prime ministers and presidents of the countries for their commendable contributions to promotion of Islamic banking and finance. In fact, we are second to only Nobel Peace Prize Committee in terms of the number of laureates drawn from the top echelons of the political spectrum.”

The previous GIFA Laureates have included His Excellency Tun Abdullah Badawi, former Prime Minister of Malaysia (2011), His Royal Highness Sultan Nazrin Shah of Perak, Malaysia (2012), His Excellency Shaukat Aziz, former Prime Minister of Pakistan (2013), His Excellency Nur Sultan Nazarbayev, first Prime Minister of Kazakhstan (2014), His Highness Muhammandu Sanusi II, Emir of Kano, Nigeria (2015), His Excellency Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia (2016), His Excellency Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of Djibouti (2017), His Excellency Bakir Izetbegovic, former Chairman of Presidency of Bosnia-Hersegovina (2018), His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa (2019),  His Excellency Dr Arif Alvi, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (2020), and His Excellency Ma’ruf Amin, Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia (2021).

For over a decade, GIFA’s prestigious award ceremonies have been held in different parts of the world to celebrate the outstanding achievements and contributions of governments, organisations and individuals to help evolve Islamic banking and finance as a sustainable system within the global Islamic financial architecture.

A number of Islamic banks, Islamic windows of conventional banks and financial institutions will participate in the most coveted and highly respected market-led awards ceremony in the Islamic finance sphere. More than 30,000 global viewers from around the world are expected to tune in through different mediums to view the hybrid awards ceremony and honour governments, organisations and individuals from over 15 countries across 5 continents for their dedicated efforts to promote Islamic banking and finance in their countries, their respective institutions and for their commitment to helping Islamic banking and finance shine in the global financial markets.

In the year 2016, the first Global Islamic Finance Summit (GIFA) was organised around the 6th GIFA Awards ceremony that took place in Jakarta. This year, there will be two high-powered sessions, Technology Adoption and Innovation in Islamic Banking and Finance, and Islamic Social Finance and its Potential Role in Economic Development of Africa.

The largest Islamic banking markets are in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and Asia. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has around 18% of the world's Muslim population but its Islamic finance assets make up only 1% of such global assets. This continent has a huge potential to shift the growth curve of Islamic finance to cater to such a large population. However, a lack of qualified personnel and a lack of standardised regulations as well as the absence of an active Islamic finance market has stunted its growth trajectory.

This Summit is an initiative taken to ensure that the Islamic finance industry is geared up for the post-COVID era and to talk about the factors that have and have not played a crucial role in its development locally as well as around the world. The Summit will also see possible policy measures for the development of Islamic finance in the African region and worldwide.

About Edbiz International Advisors:

Edbiz International Advisors is a global Islamic finance think tank, headquartered in London. Edbiz International Advisors provides multiple services that balance the dual purpose of developing thought leadership in this niche industry and strengthening the Islamic finance capacity for businesses and banks. Its client base is diverse and includes financial institutions, governments, education providers, established businesses and entrepreneurs.

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