World Bank unit plans $100m sukuk

Saidi highlighted that the sukuk was the first by the IFC and the World Bank group and the first such listing solely in the GCC by a multilateral group.

'This shows that Islamic Finance is recognised as one of the financial tools that the IFC and the World Bank are going to be using. It will open the doors to other multilateral institutions, and be a benchmark for others who want to issue sukuk,' Saidi told reporters.

'The IFC sukuk will help us standardise sukuks as a result of the measures and documentation we have used and researched.'

'This has taken three years to put together,' said Nina Shapiro, VP Finance, IFC. 'Before we could enter into discussions with the DIFC we had to look at our pipeline and portfolio.'

The initial issue will be focused on healthcare assets in Egypt and Yemen, with a view to moving into infrastructure development.

'$100m is a pipeline that we can renew every 12 to 18 months. The Middle East has become a focus and a priority for us, you have a lot of liquidity, but you have to have a way to intermediate taht will lead to jobs and growth within the region' said Shapiro.

'Nobody but a development institution would have done this deal. We want to set benchmarks, we're trying to make the process easier. Everything that we have done we will release to others.'

Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC Amanah and KFH Bahrain will be lead arrangers on the issue.

The IFC has an outstanding portoflio totalling approximately $4bn, with $1.5bn to $2bn in annual commitments.