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Halal Invest Emerges Maiden Winner of NASFATBUILD Initiative

Islamic Finance	1590 VIEWS
Islamic Finance
1590 VIEWS

Monday, February 22, 2021 / 5:43PM / Bukola Akinyele-Yisau for WebTV / Header Image Credit: NASFAT

As part of efforts designed to support entrepreneurs and start-ups with innovative solutions, that impact Muslims and non-Muslim communities, the Nasrul-lahi-li Fathi Society of Nigeria (NASFAT) recently launched a NASFATBUILD known as the Business Incubation LaunchPad.

The concept of NASFATBUILD is to provide digital solutions for Muslim entrepreneurs to solve some of the largest global challenges.

The winner of the Initiative, Halal Invest a digital marketplace that provides opportunities for Muslims and investors to invest in Shariah Principles, was awarded the prize of $10, 000 at the maiden edition of the Nasrul-lahi-li-fathi Society of Nigeria (NASFAT) Business Incubation LaunchPad (BUILD) Initiative.

Giving the opening remarks, the President of NASFAT and Managing Director (MD) of Verraki Partners, Mr. Olaniyi Yusuf, said the initiative was designed to recognize, reward, and invest in young Muslim entrepreneurs who develop business ideas/solutions that are beneficial to society.

While signing the memorandum of understanding (MOU), the NASFAT President, Mr. Yusuf, said, "NASFATBUILD is a Business Incubation LaunchPad that provides digital solutions by Muslim entrepreneurs to solve challenges.

The President highlighted four targeted areas that NASFAT has set as a priority which aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

Health
Education
Livelihood and
Dawah (Islamic Evangelism)

According to Yusuf, NASFAT celebrated its 25^th anniversary in 2020 with a series of events. Since 2019, the NASFAT Programs and activities have been focused on health, education livelihood, and Dawah.

Speaking further Yusuf said the "NASFATBUILD" competition was initiated last year in March 2020 as a way of identifying, recognizing, and rewarding Muslim entrepreneurs.

The Competition received applications from the six geo-political zones in the country, cutting across eight sectors of the economy. It also had 6 accessors who focused on the presentations at a one-day boot camp and training programme.

He added that part of the initiative is to bridge the gap of Financial Exclusion and ensure that Muslims make good investments with the aim of sustainability.

Mr. Abdulazeez Oguntoyinbo the CEO of Halal Invest commended NASFAT and its executives for its partnership towards enhancing Halal Products.

Oguntoyinbo explained further that, Halal Invest is an idea that came as a way of addressing the challenges in the Islamic world.

Providing further insight he said it is geared towards improving the patronage of non-interest products and services from investment and savings, loans to insurance.

He said, there is a huge gap in the Islamic Finance industry in Nigeria, with the north(dominated by Muslims) accounting for the highest financial exclusion rate, due to religious beliefs and restrictions.

He pledged to use the partnership with NASFAT to deepen ethical financial inclusion in the country.