South Africa to host Finance and Islamic Investment Conference

The conference will explore the increasingly emphasised role of the Islamic finance niche, with emphasis on investment in emerging markets. Peripheral discussion points will include the regulation of the mutual fund industry and the progression of Islamic mutual funds globally.

The conference is to be hosted by Oasis Group Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Transnet, and Standard Bank of South Africa. Local and international sponsors of the conference include HSBC, JP Morgan, Deutsche Securities, Barnard Jacobs Mellet, Afrifocus, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers Inc.

The South African Islamic Finance and Investment Conference will attract in the region of 300 local and international delegates from South Africa, the UK, the USA, the Middle East, and the Far East. From the Islamic Finance arena, the range of delegates will include heads of state, leaders of global financial institutions, general industry participants and representatives of regulatory bodies within the Islamic mutual fund industry. The diverse selection of speakers at the conference will include prominent business leaders of major corporations, representatives of regulatory bodies, members of parliament, and foreign dignitaries.

Some of the key speakers at the conference will include His Excellency, Khalid Abdulla Al Bassam, the Deputy Governor of the Bahrain Monetary Agency; Professor Rifaat Abdel Karim, the Secretary General of the Islamic Financial Services Board; Rushdi Siddiqui of Dow Jones Islamic Indexes; Adam Ebrahim, the Chief Executive Officer of Oasis Group Holdings (Pty) Ltd; Bongani Khumalo, the Chief Executive of Transnet South Africa, Jacko Maree, the Chairperson of Standard Bank (South Africa); Andrew Broadley of the National Commercial Bank (NCB) of Saudi Arabia; Dato Mohd Razif Abdul Kadir, the Assistant Governor of Bank Negara; and Yousuf Khayat of SEDCO.

Some of the themes that will be addressed by key speakers include: investment in equities and innovative Islamic finance products; constraints of Islamic equity investing and Shari'ah compliance in Muslim country stock exchanges; achieving out performance in Islamic mutual funds; Islamic banking and finance initiatives in Africa; and achieving transparency and accountability in Islamic financial institutions.

The South African Islamic Finance and Investment conference is being organised by Oasis Group Holdings (Pty) Ltd in South Africa and Islamic Conferences in the United Kingdom.