Feature | Issues and Challenges in Introducing Islamic Insurance (Takaful) Into the Algerian Financial Market: Lessons from Malaysia
The Islamic insurance sector or Takaful has seen remarkable global growth in many major markets, especially in Muslim dominated countries. However, the development of Islamic finance, particularly Takaful in Algeria appears to have lagged behind. Although there are two Islamic banks operating in Algeria, Takaful is yet to be introduced into the Algerian financial market. We ran a study to investigate the perspective of Algerian experts in Islamic finance and takaful on the issues and challenges of introducing Islamic insurance into the Algerian financial market to address the following questions: What are the benefits of introducing Islamic insurance into the Algerian financial market? What challenges might Algeria face with the introduction of Islamic insurance? And how can the Algerian financial market adopt the Malaysian Islamic insurance framework? Read More
Interview | (Video) Prof. Meziane Lasfer on Corporate Finance
Inspire Magazine Spoke with Prof. Meziane Lasfer, professor of finance at Cass Business School of City University of London. Prof. Lasfer specialises in applied corporate finance including Dividend Policy, Capital Structure, Corporate Restructuring, Capital Markets, and Corporate Governance. The overall aim of the interview was to engage both specialists and non-specialists with issues relevant to Prof. Lasfer’s field of research as well as how these relate to Algeria. Read More
Feature | Going beyond infrastructure gaps to improve trade competitiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa
In 2006, I was requested to contribute to an analysis of the impact of transportation costs on trade competitiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Back then, I was working as an intern in the World Bank (WB) Africa Transport Unit with Gaël Raballand, a senior WB economist, to conduct a cost/benefit analysis (CBA) of a US$ 200 million regional transport project in Central Africa (Cameroon, Central African Republic and Chad). The project included investments in road and rail infrastructure, in border posts, and few innovative soft components to facilitate trade movements in the region (1). Six years later, the project is still on and has been extended three times to reach a total approved financing of more than half a billion dollars to date.