formed International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) successfully completed its first year of operations with total approvals exceeding $2.5 billion from its own resources, resources made available to the ITFC by the IDB, and resources mobilized from international financial markets despite the current global financial crisis. The president of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Ali, stated this at a press conference held recently at the IDB headquarters during which the first annual report (1429-2008) of the ITFC was revealed. According to Dr. Waleed A. Al-Wohaib, CEO, the ITFC, which began its operations on 1st Muharram 1429H (January 10, 2008), established a solid foundation in its efforts to contribute to the development of trade among the Organization of Islamic Conference member countries on the one hand, and with the rest of the world on the other. Eighty-three percent of all trade finance approvals were directed towards intra-OIC trade. He stressed that assisting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in member countries is essential, given the export and employment opportunities that it represents. Similarly, support to LDMCs – Least Developed Member Countries – provides greater employment opportunities. The corporation ended its first year with a net income of $18m representing a return on average equity of 3.34 percent, which is considered reasonable given the sharp drop in LIBOR that has averaged around 2.9 percent for the year. The corporation's investments have fetched a return of 4.3 percent outperforming average LIBOR by 1.4 percent, representing close to 50 percent increase over average LIBOR. As Al-Wohaib said, “Our strategy is to pull for development, push for profit and aim at enhancing the development of strategic sectors that are critical to the economies of our member countries.” The ITFC has grouped the 56 OIC member countries into three regions – Sub-Saharan Africa, comprising 22 member countries, most of which are classified as LDMCs, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), covering 21 countries, including the Gulf States, the North African countries and the two Arab countries of Sudan and Mauritania, and Asia. In MENA, four countries – Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Kuwait, and Egypt, received the lion's share of the financing, which totaled $812m. However, the trade financing operations that had the most impact were for agricultural inputs for Sudan ($50m), and for pharmaceutical and consumer manufacturing sector in Jordan ($48.5m). In Sub-Saharan Africa, the ITFC approved 12 trade finance operations in eight countries amounting to $235.11m of which over 58 percent was mobilized from external sources, representing the highest percentage of mobilized funding for all the regions.
