The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) held in partnership with the Central Bank of Djibouti and the Arab Academy for Banking and Financial Sciences (AABFS) a ceremony in Djibouti – under the patronage and in the presence of His Excellency the President of the Republic, Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, and the Prime Minister His Excellency Abdul Qadir Mohamed Kamel and His Excellency  the Governor of the Central Bank Mr. Ahmed Osman, and a group of ministers and ambassadors  and representatives of  the diplomatic corps as well as scholars and experts and the media  – to celebrate the launch of the French translation of AAOIFI’s Shari’ah standards.

His Excellency the President in his opening speech welcomed AAOIFI and its representatives, and praised the role of AAOIFI as well as its standards and activities and its impact on Islamic finance industry worldwide.  The ceremony also included a speech delivered by His Excellency the Governor of the Central Bank of Djibouti in which he expressed the interest of the country in Islamic finance and the willingness to support this industry in consideration of its positive impact on the development of the economy.

He stated that various steps were taken in this context such as the establishment of a Central Shari’ah Board in Djibouti by a presidential decree at the end of 2015 and which became effective by end 2016. He added that currently  there are three active Islamic Banks in Djibouti and he praised the positive step taken by AAOIFI in translating the Shari’ah standards to French as this will play a positive role in spreading AAOIFI’s standards not only in Europe but in other wider parts of Africa.

In his speech Dr. Yazan Khalaf Al-Atyat Acting President of  The Arab Academy for Banking and Financial Sciences pointed out that this ceremony is an outcome of the cooperation between AAOIFI and the academy and it coincides with the inauguration of the Academy branch in Djibouti. This new branch has the objective of training human resources specialized in Islamic banking and finance and offering AAOIFI’s professional certificates.

AAOIFI’s delegation was headed by Sheikh Dr. Sayyed Mohammed Al-Sayyed Abdulrazzaq Al-Tabtabae  (member of the Board of Trustees, AAOIFI, Chairman of the Advisory Committee to work on completing the application of Shariah in the Kuwaiti Emiri Diwan). In his speech, His Excellency praised Djibouti and its economic development in all areas, including the remarkable economic growth, notably through the support and development of Islamic finance, and he also lauded the support of President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh for Islamic finance. This support is exemplified in His Excellency’s participation in person in AAOIFI’s ceremony.

In his speech, Dr. Hamed Bin Hassan Merah, Secretary General AAOIFI, pointed out that in November 2015, AAOIFI initiated the project of translation of Shari’ah standards to French. He added: today we  celebrate the launch of the project and presenting the first copy of the French version to His Excellency the president of Djibouti. The French translation is gaining importance on different fronts as French is an official language used in 29 countries around the world, and spoken by over 274 million, as a language of business and finance in a group of countries that are active and have great interest in Islamic finance in North and West Africa as well as number of European countries.

On this occasion, Shaikh Ibrahim Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chairman of AAOIFI’s Board of Trustees said “On behalf of the Board of Trustees of AAOIFI and all staff members, I would like to extend thanks and appreciation to His Excellency President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh on sponsoring the launch of the French translation of  AAOIFI Shari’ah standards in Djibouti. The translation has been completed through a large project which involved more than 22 experts, 450 days, and 1450 working hours and more than 145 meetings to serve millions of French speakers around the world who are interested in the areas of Islamic finance.

On the other hand, a signing ceremony was held in Djibouti to celebrate the Central Bank of Djibouti joining AAOIFI as an institutional member along with the existing 21 central banks and regulatory and supervisory authorities. In addition, Salaam African Bank joined AAOIFI’s as member.