Al Baraka Islamic Bank
Over the last 37 years, Bahrain Bay-based Al Baraka Islamic Bank has built a strong presence in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey. All told, it has a presence in 17 countries – with a total population of 1 billion people – and provides services through more than 700 branches.
Scale is one thing. But with listings on Bahrain Bourse and Nasdaq Dubai, Al Baraka made a name for itself early on by helping to build the infrastructure for a thriving global Islamic finance industry.
Year after year, its businesses have grown fast, offering innovative financial products for investment, international trade finance, managing short-term liquidity and corporate and consumer financing based on Islamic Shariah principles.
Last year was no exception, even during the pandemic. The team overseen by chief executive Hamad Abdulla Al Oqab managed to increase total assets by more than 20% to $2.7 billion in 2020, from $2.2 billion in 2019. Financing assets grew nearly 12% to $1.07 billion, while customer deposits increased 28% year on year to $2.2 billion.
The last 18 months have been as much about growth as playing defence.