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Islamic Development Bank shifts strategy to become 'bank of developers'

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Islamic Development Bank shifts strategy to become 'bank of developers'

Islamic Development Bank plans to move more than half its current staff abroad to streamline its strategy to decentralize its operations and become a "bank of developers" that focuses more on actively creating and designing investment projects rather than just being a minority investor, Reuters reported June 6.

The bank will focus more on developing projects that will enhance the industrial value chain for member countries and help them create jobs as well as export finished products instead of just raw materials. It plans to create new hubs around the world, in addition to the regional hubs it already operates, with the intention of expanding the Cairo office and possibly making Nigeria one of the hubs.

According to Reuters, former Saudi Arabian minister of the haj, Bandar Hajjar, who became the bank's president in 2016, said: "We are transforming the bank from a development bank into a bank of developers." The haj is the Islamic pilgrimage.

The bank also supports creating new Islamic banks around the globe, and has launched a $500 million fund to provide seed money to start-ups and smaller companies in an effort to spread their ideas and technology, the newswire said.

Islamic Development Bank has 57 member countries with a subscribed capital of $70 billion and assets amounting to $16 billion. Saudi Arabia is the biggest shareholder in the bank with a 25% stake.