Oxford Business Group

Expanding Qatar’s range of financial services has been a priority in recent years, enshrined in Qatar National Vision 2030, as well as other government strategies. Indeed, a wide and deep financial services sector is essential to fostering broad-based growth and connecting Qatar’s start-up ecosystem with international counterparts. Specifically, the government is seeking to foster partnerships between banks and the wider financial ecosystem in order to digitalise and improve services, including government to citizen, business to consumer, government to business, and business to business. Multiplier Effect

The Gulf banking sector has witnessed an increase in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in recent years, as lenders continue to deal with the economic headwinds associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. At the outset of the pandemic in the first quarter of 2020, it was anticipated that the economic slowdown and the associated fall in oil prices would accelerate the M&A trend among banks in the region, with most institutions expecting constrained profitability despite performing well on risk indicators. Pandemic Effect A report published by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) in March 2021 noted that the long-lasting adverse effects of the 2020 shock were likely

After a resilient performance in 2020, the international Islamic finance sector fared positively in 2021 as an improved economic environment, a rise in the number of large projects, and an increased focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors combined to drive demand for services. Despite the twin challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and the fall in international oil prices that affected many of the world’s heavyweights in Islamic finance, the global sector’s assets grew by 10.6% in 2020, according to ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P). Although this was down from the 17.3% growth recorded in 2019, it was a strong performance in light

Qatar’s Islamic financial services sector is engaged in a shift towards sustainability to take advantage of robust global growth in demand for sharia-compliant investments and rising interest in green finance. Globally, Islamic financial services continue to exhibit strong momentum, with loans expanding at an average compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.5% in 2020 and 2021, according to a 2022 report from credit ratings agency Moody’s. This compares favourably with conventional financing’s CAGR of 3.4% over the same period. The favourable performance is due in

As environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns become increasingly important in the corporate world, insurance companies are emerging as potentially key players in the shift away from fossil fuel-powered projects. The launch of the UN-convened Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) in July 2021 reflects an ongoing change in the global insurance industry towards the wider recognition of the risks associated with climate change. Targeting Net-zero The NZIA brings together eight of the world’s biggest insurers and reinsurers, each of which are committed to transitioning their underwriting