Alif Capital (тадж. Алиф Сармоя, рус. Алиф Капитал) – is the first micro-financing organization in the Republic of Tajikistan which uses the principles of Islamic Finance. It is located in Tajikistan, Dushanbe.
In August 2014, the law regulating Islamic finance was finally enacted, however, the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) is currently working on issuing instructions for the financial institutions that wish to work under the principles of Islamic Finance. Nevertheless, Alif Capital is considered the first micro-financing organization that is already implementing the principles of Islamic finance that do not conflict with the existing banking law. Therefore, Alif Capital is said to have been set up to provide financing solutions in accordance with Islamic finance as soon as the instructions by NBT are available.
Alif Capital (alif from 'aleph – the first letter of the Arabic alphabet) – means that the organization wants to be the first Islamic micro-financing organization in Tajikistan.
2014 Alif Capital LLC was established in 2014 and received a license from the NBT to operate as micro-credit organization.
2014 Alif Capital launched consumer credit which was dubbed as "Бефоиз" (рус. Беспроцентный eng. Interest-free) by offering short-term consumer credits (4–6 months) to its clients. The main trading partners of this project are the major consumer brands in the country akin to Huyndai, VOLNA, Samsung, Technosila, Sinon, Kilim and Kamolot.
2015 Over 9 months, Alif Capital increased its financing portfolio by over three times and, as a result, it has become 5th largest micro-credit organization among the members of AMFOT in Tajikistan. Moreover, in 2015, Alif Capital joined AMFOT (Association of Micro-credit Organizations of Tajikistan), the role of which is to unify and harmonize the interests of industry players by developing their capabilities to serve the general public more effectively.
2015 In the second quarter of 2015, Alif Capital recorded second highest growth rate of credit portfolio amongst AMFOT members, which amounted to 23.9%. The analysis, which was conducted by AMFOT, consisted over 80 financial organizations, including six banks and 28 micro-deposit organizations.
From the very first day, Alif Capital began its work by offering Murabaha-style financing which is considered the most commonly used mode of financing in Islamic banking industry. In other words, when the client requests a financing to purchase an asset, then alif Capital buys the asset and sells it to the client on deferred payment basis for a mark-up (12%–15%) which is agreed by both parties before the transaction. Alif Capital transfers the ownership of the asset to the client and receives the payment over a period of time.
Alif Capital is said to be the first financial organization in Tajikistan that attracts funds using Mudarabah-style contract which is also an Islamic finance instrument. This Islamic financial contract is usually used to attract deposits. In other words, the client places funds with Alif Capital which, in turn, invests these funds in various projects through Murabahah, Befoiz, Ijara, etc. Whatever is realised, as a result of investment, is shared between the client and Alif Capital in accordance to pre-agreed income-sharing ration.
