Dubai’s Noor Bank launches 3.2 mln dirham waqf fund with Ajman Uni to benefit Islamic banking and finance
Dubai-based Noor Bank has launched a 3.2 million dirhams ($871,000) waqf fund with Ajman University to benefit Islamic banking and finance studies, the Shariah-compliant bank said in a statement on Monday.
The current pledge of 3.2 million dirhams that comes out of the funds Noor manages in its fiduciary capacity, will benefit one professorship and four scholarships.
The fund will aim to attract more pledges in the future, Noor Bank’s head of Shariah Dr Adnan Aziz told Salaam Gateway.
“As long as the fund remains intact and continues to generate returns, four scholarships will remain on offer every year,” said Dr Adnan.
The waqf amount will be held in perpetuity but the returns on investment will be used to benefit the scholarships.
“The amount of scholarship will depend on the levels of returns generated by the fund but returns (combined with matching contribution by Ajman University every year) are expected to be enough to support four scholarships,” Dr Adnan added.
Ajman University will match the investment returns.
“By matching the investment returns earmarked for scholarships, Ajman University will double the yearly amount of funding available to qualifying students from the College of Business Administration,” university chancellor Dr Karim Seghir said in a statement on Monday.
The basic criteria of the scholarships is a combination of academic excellence and financial needs of students registered on a course at the College of Business Administration at Ajman University who have a focus on Islamic banking and finance.
The scholarships are available for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.
The fund will be administered by the trustees, which is an independent board of the fund, with day-to-day support provided by the privately-run Ajman University.
The university's tuition fees for a Bachelor of Science in either management, marketing, finance, or accounting are 1,045 dirhams per credit hour per academic year, according to its 2019-2020 schedule. Students require 126 credit hours to graduate.
MBAs cost 2,000 dirhams per credit hour per year and students need 36 total credit hours.
Doctor of Business Administration degrees are 4,500 dirhams per credit hour per year and candidates need 60 total credit hours.
Noor Bank is the subject of acquisition for UAE’s largest standalone Shariah-compliant financial institution Dubai Islamic Bank. DIB announced in June an outline of its plans to acquire Noor Bank.
($1 = 3.6725 UAE dirhams)
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