Ovamba today announced plans to launch the next evolution of its ambitious effort in supporting credit facilities for the African SME market. The heart of the campaign is an Islamic financial experience that caters to business needs and growth developments.
The investment by Ovamba will enable it to strengthen its uniquely competitive position, increase its market share and accelerate expansion in Africa. It also expects to continue investing in new Islamic financial products such as Ijara, Wakala, Mudaraba and provide capital for enterprises.
Marvin Cole, Founder and Global CEO at Ovamba, says: “Helping businesses to grow is a key area of domain expertise and investment focus for us. We have been able to assist many companies from multiple industries in their endeavor to boost their business prospects considerably. Over the years we have managed to develop our offerings to deliver quality services to our dedicated clientele consistently. Going forward we believe Islamic financial instruments will provide an excellent platform for building businesses of scale.”
Commenting on the assignment of Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB) Mr. Cole had this to say, “We look forward to building on their global expertise and helping us design world-class products to accelerate Ovamba’s growth.”
SRB has scholarly presence in over 14 countries across the globe, making it the most international Sharia Advisory firm in the world. Licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, it provides Sharia certification and product structuring solutions for an almost infinite number of company needs.
“All of our actions, from the way we mange Sharia compliance to the way we run our business to how we use our resources, align with our purpose which is to help clients structure world class products” says Yasser S. Dahlawi, Founder and CEO who oversees the global operations of SRB. Speaking from his Saudi office, he further adds, “This means our focus is on how we connect our capabilities to help our clients achieve their goals while providing them the Sharia resources to thrive.”
Commenting on Ovamba’s initiative Yasser states “We are very excited about their new offering. Financing for trading productivity is not only essential for SME’s rather it is urgently needed. We believe Ovamba’s efforts will help open new venues of investments and augment the way trading is currently done in Africa.”
Mansoor M. Ahmed, AGM at Bahrain based office of SRB comments, “One of the highest development priorities in any economy is to improve the state and productivity of small companies. When done right, these enterprises turn into larger-scale businesses helping promote and empower other sustainable sectors important to a country.” On the deployment of Sharia compliant instruments by Ovamba, Mansoor adds, “This is an exciting new development and we hope to see it become a revolutionary trading platform and an engine of growth for small and medium size enterprises.”
SRB points to its year-over-year growth as evidence of growing Sharia compliant funds and products. In just two years, SRB has tripled in size, and is now considered as one of the largest Sharia Advisory company in the Middle East. The company serves clients ranging from mid-market firms to banks, Asset Managers and Insurance firms from US, UK, France, and the GCC.
