# Islamic Development Bank (IsDB)

Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) is a Bank / Wealth / Trust based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Bank / Wealth / Trust
- **Headquarters:** Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- **Region:** Middle East
- **Address:** Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- **Founded:** 1975
- **Assets under management:** $20B–$40B (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** isdb.org
- **LinkedIn:** https://sa.linkedin.com/company/islamic-development-bank

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Formed in 1975 at a meeting of Organization of Islamic Cooperation finance ministers, the Islamic Development Bank began operations with a mandate to foster economic development and social progress among Muslim communities exclusively through Shari'ah-compliant instruments. Its founding charter established IsDB as a multilateral development bank with a AAA rating from the major agencies — a ranking it has maintained — and a paid-in capital structure funded primarily by Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran, Nigeria, and other large member economies. The institution sits at the intersection of a sovereign development bank, a trade financier, and a private-equity investor, structured into a parent Group that also houses the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit, the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation. The bank's deployment engine spans four core modes: sovereign project finance for infrastructure, transport, and energy; private-sector equity participation through its ICD and ICD Islamic private-equity arms; trade finance via its ITFC vehicle; and direct concessional lending through the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development. Asset classes are constrained by Shari'ah compliance, eliminating conventional fixed-income and replacing it with leasing structures (Ijarah), Islamic bonds (Sukuk), equity participation (Musharakah), and cost-plus financing (Murabaha). Confirmed sector commitments include the $1.7B Rogun Hydropower Plant in Tajikistan (per Reuters, 2023), the $180M Diamniadio Exhibition Center in Senegal, and an ongoing $730M reverse-linkage portfolio connecting Asian processor farms with West African cotton cooperatives. Its geographic footprint concentrates on sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, but recent energy-transition allocations have moved capital into Central Asian grid infrastructure and North African green-hydrogen projects. Headquartered in Jeddah with regional hubs in Rabat, Kuala Lumpur, Almaty, Abuja, and Istanbul, IsDB sources talent from a blend of Western investment banks and GCC sovereign funds. In May 2024, the board approved a $2.1B package for 22 development projects spanning health, education, and transport across 12 African member countries — signaling continued focus on concessional finance alongside the expanding private-sector direct-investment agenda (per the institution's communications, May 2024). IsDB's structural differentiator is its AAA-rated multilateral balance sheet paired with an unwavering Shari'ah-compliance mandate, a combination no other development finance institution replicates at its scale. The prohibition on interest excludes nearly all conventional multilateral debt instruments, forcing IsDB to act as both an owner and a financier — where the World Bank would extend a loan, IsDB often takes an equity stake or structures a leasing transaction, resulting in a portfolio that behaves more like a permanent-capital vehicle than a treasury operation.

## Sectors

- Infrastructure
- Energy Transition & Renewables
- AgriTech & FoodTech
- Healthcare Services
- Education
- Financial Services
- Private Credit

## Offices

- Rabat, Morocco
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Almaty, Kazakhstan
- Dakar, Senegal
- Abuja, Nigeria
- Istanbul, Turkey

## People

- Muhammad Al Jasser — President and Group Chairman

## Questions

### How does IsDB reconcile its Shari'ah-compliance mandate with development-bank profit requirements?

IsDB replaces interest-bearing instruments with asset-backed structures: Ijarah leases for infrastructure, Murabaha cost-plus sales for trade finance, and direct equity Musharakah agreements for corporate investments. The bank's AAA rating is affirmed specifically within this Shari'ah framework, and it generates retained earnings through lease premiums, equity dividends, and Sukuk issuance fees rather than loan-spread income.

### Who governs investment policy at IsDB, and what is President Al Jasser's investment background?

The Board of Governors, composed of finance ministers from each member country, sets broad investment policy. Muhammad Al Jasser, appointed President in 2021, previously served as Saudi Arabia's Minister of Economy and Planning and as Governor of the Saudi Central Bank, where he managed the sovereign's foreign-reserve portfolio — a career that brings a central-bank risk framework to the development-bank investment committee.

### Is IsDB structured as a pure development bank, or does it operate profit-seeking investment arms?

It operates both. The sovereign-facing project-finance and poverty-alleviation arms are concessional, while the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation seek market-rate returns on equity investments and trade-finance facilities. This dual-track structure allows member countries to access development capital while IsDB's earnings support its AAA balance sheet.

### What is IsDB's posture on Western-index-compliant investments given sanctions exposure?

IsDB does not align with Western sanctions regimes by default; its board includes Iran, Syria, and Sudan among member countries, and some portfolio activity involves those geographies. Institutional allocators under US or EU sanctions-compliance frameworks must treat IsDB-linked assets as carrying elevated jurisdictional risk, particularly for dollar-denominated vehicles.

### How does IsDB's Sukuk issuance program function, and who are the primary buyers?

IsDB is one of the largest AAA-rated Sukuk issuers globally, with outstanding Sukuk across US dollars, euros, and Saudi riyals. Primary buyers include GCC bank treasuries, Islamic-fund fixed-income desks, and Asian central banks seeking Shari'ah-compliant high-grade paper. The Sukuk pool provides liquidity that funds the trade-finance and private-sector investment arms without relying on member-country callable capital.

## Related profiles

- [Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector](https://altss.com/profile/islamic-corporation-for-the-development-of-the-private-sector)
- [Isle of Wight Council Pension Fund](https://altss.com/profile/isle-of-wight-council-pension-fund)

---

Last updated: 2026-08-11T02:43:31.692Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/islamic-development-bank-isdb

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology