The Dubai conglomerate Alokozay Group is in the final stages of acquiring Afghanistan'sBrac Bank as it seeks to take a major step into the financial sector.
Brac Bank, founded in 2006, is owned by the non-governmental organisation Brac, which works to alleviate poverty, the International Finance Corporation, Triodos Bank of the Netherlands and the US non-profit company ShoreCap International. Brac Bank focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises and has lent more than US$35 million (Dh128.5m) to 6,000 companies, according to its website.
Jalil Alokozay, the chief executive of Alokozay Group, confirmed the transaction but declined to comment about the details, saying only that he saw "great potential" in the Afghan banking sector.
Najia Sherzad, the treasury manager of Brac Bank, said yesterday details of Alokozay's acquisition of the bank were "confidential".
Any deal would be announced after the Alokozay Group was given authorisation to buy the bank, she said.
Alokozay Group, founded by Abdul Rehman Alokozay and with headquarters in Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone, is not well known but is thought to be a major economic player in Afghanistan.
This week it struck a $60m deal to produce and distribute PepsiCo products in Afghanistan. The company is building a plant, which is expected to come into operation next March.
Alokozay Group, which says it has 5,000 employees, is also involved in property development in Afghanistan, logistics, petroleum and the distribution of consumer products. It is the sole distributor of Esse cigarettes, made by the South Korean company KT&G.
Afghanistan's financial world was shaken last year by revelations of insider dealing and improper loans at Kabul Bank, the country's largest lender. It handles most of the payroll for soldiers, police officers and teachers.
There is speculation that an investor or group of investors may take over part of Kabul Bank. International organisations have put pressure on Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, to put the bank into receivership.
The bank lent as much as $850m, or 94 per cent of its total assets, to shareholders and politically connected people, according to a report from the inspector general of the US Agency for International Development.
bhope@thenational.ae
Election pledges on migration
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SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
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Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
Three stars
Bharatanatyam
A ancient classical dance from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Intricate footwork and expressions are used to denote spiritual stories and ideas.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Company%20profile
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RESULT
Chelsea 2
Willian 13'
Ross Barkley 64'
Liverpool 0
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
RESULTS
Cagliari 5-2 Fiorentina
Udinese 0-0 SPAL
Sampdoria 0-0 Atalanta
Lazio 4-2 Lecce
Parma 2-0 Roma
Juventus 1-0 AC Milan
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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Upul Tharanga (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella
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Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera
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Faber & Faber
Match info:
Portugal 1
Ronaldo (4')
Morocco 0
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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MATCH INFO
Newcastle United 3
Gayle (23'), Perez (59', 63')
Chelsea 0