(ICD) - The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (“ICD”), the private sector arm of IDB Group, and Coris Bank International have entered into a Joint Strategic Collaboration to establish Islamic window.

The CEO of ICD, Mr. Khaled Al Aboodi and Mr. Idrissa Nassa, CEO and Chairman of Coris Bank International signed the advisory agreement.

Through this collaboration, ICD is assisting Coris Bank International’s subsidiaries in launching 4 dedicated Islamic windows in Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal and Benin.

Mr. Khalid Al Aboodi, CEO of ICD stated “we are happy to assist our partner Coris BANK in launching new channels in our common member countries in Africa. ICD has a deep experience in the African market and despite the complexities of Islamic finance and the various regulatory and supervisory challenges involved in the matter; ICD will share its experience in the field and the joint collaboration with Coris will set in stone a new important achievement in the countries involved.”

Mr., Idrissa Nassa said, “Coris BANK, in its mission to bring innovative solutions; saw in the Islamic finance, an opportunity in the sense that it is an alternative to the conventional finance. So, after the successful implementation of the Islamic window of Burkina Faso, and in view of the undeniable potential of the Finance Islamic, with a 20 % expected growth, Coris Group decided to make the Islamic finance as a main growth driver. The vision of Coris group is to be the leading banking group providing sharia compliant products and services. The strategy of the group is to implement an Islamic Window in all its banking network with the assistance of ICD. The signature of this advisory agreement with ICD aims to achieve this objective. In midterm the group aspires to create sharia compliant subsidiaries.”

Coris Bank International Group

Coris Bank International was founded in 2008 in Burkina Faso and is a leading banking group in West Africa, that operates in all market segments: retail, corporate, institutional and public sector with a focus on the SMEs. Coris Bank offers its customers a range of products and commercial banking services. The group is present in 6 countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Senegal and Togo. The aim of Coris Bank International is to be the leading bank in support of economy growth in each of our country market.

About the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector

ICD is a multilateral organization and a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group. The mandate of ICD is to support economic development and promote the development of the private sector in its member countries through providing financing facilities and/or investments which are in accordance with the principles of Shari’ah. ICD also provides advice to governments and private organizations to encourage the establishment, expansion and modernization of private enterprises. ICD is rated AA/F1+ by Fitch and Aa3/P1 by Moody’s. For more information visit www.icd-ps.org