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By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 10 July 2014:
At a midnight Ramadan suhour (a late meal during the fasting month) held at the Radisson . . .[restrict]hotel Monday, Maiyar Capital announced that it had received CBL approval for its LD 150 million “Konooz” (Treasures) Real Estate Islamic Investment Fund.
Maiyar Capital is a Benghazi based financial services company. Konooz Holdings is a Benghazi-based investment company.
The announcement was made to an exclusive gathering of managers from the Central Bank Libya, commercial banks, the Stock Exchange, Libya Enterprise, the Privatization and Investment Board, the General Union of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Tripoli Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as a number of leading business leaders.
Abdalnasr Abouzkeh, General Manager of Libya Enterprise said that this was “the first type of private Islamic investment fund” and admitted that “the delay in announcing this fund had been the lack of experience in creating such funds in Libya”.
Libya Enterprise is the SME department of the Ministry of Economy. It has recently launched five SME investment funds based in Libya’s five main cities. It had also recently organized a workshop on finance for SMEs.
“It is a pioneering initiative”, admitted Abouzkeh and “I hope it opens doors for other funds as means of investment as an alternative to bank financing”, he ended.
Mohammad Zahran, the CEO of Maiyar Capital said that “Maiyar Capital is registered with the Libyan Stock Exchange and licenced to manage investment funds in Libya. We would like to enshrine the concept of Islamic investment funds in Libya. The Konooz fund is expected to give returns ranging from 20-30 percent annually”.
“It has received CBL approval”, he confirmed and announced that after Eid it will be launched for various general and real estate investments. The fund will be launched through a public offering on the Libyan Stock Exchange.
Zahran explained that according to the latest CBL figures in the May 2014 report, assets at Libyan banks had increased by 18 percent to LD 95 bn. Of this, LD 76 bn is liquid and of this, LD 40 bn are private sector deposits. There is ample local capital available for investments.
The CEO also revealed that Konooz has three current projects, one in Tripoli and two in Benghazi: The conversion of the old Ottoman Naval Academy in the old city in Tripoli into a boutique hotel , the 25 floor Manara office Tower in Benghazi and the Rafahiya hotel and mall in Benghazi.”We are studying other projects including a LD 240 million hospital development project in Tripoli to be managed by a foreign medical team”, he added.
Zahran also reported on Konooz’s other investment funds. The LD 70 million Bashayer Educational Investment Fund planned to invest in 2 hectare plots for schools in Libya’s main cities of Tripoli, Benghazi and Misrata. There will also be other investment funds to be announced soon, he added.
The CEO of Konooz said that the late Ramadan night meeting was organized to inform the gathered business leaders and bank executives to join in investing in the various funds as well as seeking joint cooperation.
In responding to questions from the guests, CEO Zahran said that the Konooz fund was a medium risk development fund. Asked about current risk and the situation in Libya, Zahran said that this was the time to invest in Libya. Once risk is deemed lower in Libya, he explained, competition in the market will be fierce and returns will be lower. [/restrict]
