Tag: ISLAMIC BANKING

Ambassador Adamu Babangida Ibrahim, a banker, has served as Nigerian Ambassador to the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Guinea. Ambassador Ibrahim who is the pioneer Director-General, Jaiz Charity and Development Foundation, a charity arm of the Jaiz Bank, the foremost Islamic bank in Nigeria, in this interview with Assistant Editor Nduka Chiejina speaks on the birth of Jaiz Foundation, challenges d prospects of running an Islamic foundation. Excerpts:

On leading Jaiz Foundation

I voluntarily resigned my appointment, that is, ambassadorial appointment and took up appointment as pioneer Director General/Chief Executive Officer of Jaiz Charity and Development Foundation. I think that is just a brief of how I came into Jaiz Foundation.

Transiting from being a banker, diplomat to being the DG of Jaiz Foundation

I was trained as an accountant, became a banker then I had a stint in the public service and then of course, went into foreign service diplomacy and that has widened my horizon and therefore see my coming into Jaiz Foundation which is a nongovernmental organisation for charity and development and which is a bit also related to banking and I felt it is still further part of my career as a banker, as a diplomat and as a public servant. All combined, I think it gives me a lot of opportunities.

Vision for the Foundation

Jaiz Charity and Development Foundation which is the full name and the trading name is, as well as the registered name or short name of what we called Jaiz foundation, is a product of the first non interest financial institution, Jaiz Bank Plc and it is normal under where you have non interest financial institution which is Islamic bank. There is a product designed as a foundation where some income that the bank cannot recognise under their profit and loss as Halal income, they have to move it for use as charity purposes,  as well as the double Corporate social responsibility agent of that institution, Jaiz Bank. So, that is how we came into existence, and you can see that Jaiz Foundation is a product of Jaiz Bank Plc which was registered under Batch C of the Company Allied and Matters Under the Corporate Affairs Commission, Batch C as Non-governmental and  nonprofit organisation for charity and development purposes which was registered on 2nd April 2012.

You know the main issue of non interest financial institutions is that nothing in the form of interest or what we call Ribah in Arabic can be recognized as income. Therefore, any type of income that comes through to Jaiz Bank, that is, something like that in the form of interest which cannot be legally, under Islamic Sharia and principles, recognised as Halal income. That type of income has to be moved to the next foundation that is why a lot of income pre-incorporation income whereby deposit of shareholders of Jaiz Bank deposited money for shares before the licensing. These monies were invested with the CBN and other financial instruments like Treasury Bills which attracts interest. Now, income from that cannot be used by the bank, eventually after the licensing of Jaiz Bank, now it became imperative that they cannot use that money. Now all that money now is channelled through the Foundation for charity and development purposes for human development to compliment government efforts.

This is a universal practice worldwide, anywhere in the world where you find Islamic banking, whether in Europe, Asia, Middle East, it is a standard practice, Islamic banks normally have foundations.

Target beneficiaries of Jaiz Foundation

Everybody. These monies are supposed to be used for charity and development purposes for interventions, especially in the poor and underserved people for economic empowerment, for intervention in health, education and so forth.

Besides, if you noticed even Jaiz Bank is a relatively young institution. Not to talk of the foundation which was created after Jaiz Bank obtained its licence. So we are a young institution. Positively we have made some impact base on the trust as enshrined by the board of trustees based on the strategic business plan that was initially set up, five years strategic business plan that was set up for the Foundation at inception and this span a period of, let us say one and a half year. From April 2014 till date, the foundation has intervened in various sectors. I can give you the details but in various sectors, interventions in terms of materials, cash donations, the total values so far of what we have intervened is roughly about one hundred and five million naira (N105, 000, 000), so far. This as I said include donation of relief materials, which include food stuffs, clothings to victims of insurgency. This, we started with insurgency and coming up clashes before it transformed to IDPs. We have done that with nine states of the federation: Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Plateau, Zamfara, Kastina, Kaduna and Nasarawa states which was about N56.5million worth of materials. We also made some car donations along the line to families of deceased persons that contributed when Jaiz Bank was established which was N3million. Also when there was an attack on a prayer Mosque in Kano on a Friday, we donated N10million each to the palace Emir, to the Mosque, and then N10million to the Kano state government as a relief to the victims of that blast. Which in total is N20 million which was done in early December 2014.

Other streams of income for the Foundation

That is a very good question, you see, as I made mention to you the primary purpose of establishing the foundation but that is not all, the foundation has other sources to sustain its operations because when this foundation was established, the intention was an independent nongovernmental, nonprofit organisation, separate with its own board of trustees differently from Jaiz Bank Plc. So, it is operating as a separate foundation. Apart from those monies coming in from Jaiz Bank, we also have others donations that will come from Jaiz Bank and some other sources also. We partner with international donors, with local donors for donations. Also we have Zakat money from the bank, the customers of the bank and from other individuals and corporate organizations, you know the Islamic Zakat, every year you are enjoined to give a portion of what money you have made for charity like tithe. These are all sources of funding. Then another important aspect is that our constitution allows us also to make investments, profitable investments, where we can now source income. But the important thing to note is that nobody will benefit from that income for any investment as form of dividends or whatever because it is a charity. What we do, whatever income we get, we use it to sustain our operations of charity and intervention and development purposes, and it is line with that, we now set up, currently we have a company we called El-Jaiz Investment and services that is in charge of investment and out sourcing functions. We provided services at the initial stage of Jaiz Bank and some other customers with drivers, cleaners, security, bank tellers and marketers. All these are out sourcing the company has been applauded for. We have also floated a company just about waiting for licence from the National Insurance Corporation. It’s a full-fledged Islamic Insurance Takaful company, Jaiz Takaful Insurance Company PLC, which is also meant to derive income that will attract other investors as well as the foundation also to make reasonable income to sustain its operations. So these are all sources of income that will sustain the operations of Jaiz Foundation.

Experience working Jaiz Foundation thus far

My experience so far has shown that in Nigeria because of the nature of our country and the circumstances we found ourselves, we found out that there are a lot of areas that need intervention. People need assistance. If you see the flurry of request we receive everyday for humanitarian assistance and intervention, it’s so much such that if today we decide to disburse all what we have, it is not going to be enough for people. Just recently, we did another interventions for IDPs in Borno state last year. Just about two weeks ago, we did another intervention where we donated food stuff, materials, mats, blankets, worth over ten million naira (N10, 000, 000). We went and presented last week to internally displaced persons not in government camps, but this time around, the last one we did was to IDPs last year , those that are staying in camps, now the board targeted, what we did, we Independently formed a committee and targeted IDPs living within communities. You know there are IDPs living with people. So we got some statistics, at least some reasonable number of people, 1500 bodies of families benefitted from this intervention ranging from food stuffs, materials, mosquito net, and the rest.

Challenges thus far

The challenges for now as a start up, yes, we have the issue of manpower. Since I came, we are trying to set up the foundation to have the requisite skilled man power that are quite experienced in NGOs and the rest. It is an issue also, we are trying to get there but we have some challenges in that area. The second challenge as I told you earlier is the real demand for intervention especially with the insurgency and the rest of things and empowerment, economic, people needing economic empowerment they are so enormous and within the limited resources we have also it is difficult but our strategy is, as far as we can do a little as we can. Also, let us identify areas where we can generate income so that these things will be sustainable. This is our main focus. These are some of the challenges we have. Also, as far as we are trying to push our necks out to see the sources of getting income because until you get the money you cannot do all these interventions. So these are some of the challenges we are facing now.

Banks which want to reap from Islamic banking have got the backing of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It has instituted governance guidelines to aid them. But the CBN also noted inconsistencies in the treatment of certain classes of deposits, especially Hamish Al Jiddiyya (Earnest Deposits) by Islamic financial institutions, writes COLLINS NWEZE.

The global Islamic banking market, which has doubled in size over the past four years, is now worth more than $2 trillion, and is gradually picking up in Nigeria. Many customers are going for Islamic banking products because of the benefits that come with it.

For instance, when a Muslim cleric told Musliu Abubakar, a bank customer, that Sharia law forbids paying interest on loans, he returned his N2 million facility from a new generation bank to the lender and turned to the fast-growing industry of Islamic finance for cheaper credit.

Abubakar returned the loan just one week after he got the money from his bank. “A cleric told me it is not permissible under Islam to take loans from a non-Islamic bank because they charge interest,” the white-collar worker said.

A few days later, he arranged for a loan from an Islamic bank after paying a $100 service charge. As well as the religious aspect, customers are attracted to Islamic finance because of its flexibility, link to real economic activity and its ban on transactions involving speculation or uncertainty, experts say. Sharia-compliant assets are expected to sustain double-digit growth in the coming two to three years.

With Nigerian banks facing cash crunch over oil price fall and increasing need to shore up their capital bases, the time to promote Islamic finance is now. Hence, many people saw it coming when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the first quarter, issued guidelines for an advisory body that would oversee Islamic banking in the country.

 

Impact of the guidelines

 

For Nigeria, the advisory body, known as the Financial Regulation Advisory Council of Experts, would be tasked with ensuring all banking products that are designated as Islamic conform to sharia principles.

The guidelines set out minimum requirements for the advisory body, which will comprise a minimum of five members, including a CBN official. Members, who will serve renewable two-year terms, must be qualified in Islamic jurisprudence, and are restricted from working for any other financial institution supervised by the apex bank.

Financial institutions that offer Islamic banking products are already required to have their own boards of Sharia finance experts, who are limited to serving in one institution at a time.

The advisory body will be guided by the principles of Sharia governance issued by the Malaysia-based Islamic Financial Services Board.

With the policy guidelines, the CBN has become the latest regulator to opt for a centralised approach to the Islamic banking industry. It also indicates that Nigeria, home to the largest Muslim population in sub-Saharan Africa with over 80 million Muslims, and authorities are trying to establish the country as the African hub for Islamic finance.

Countries, including Bahrain and Morocco, have opted for such a format, which can help to limit differences between products, speed the design of new products and boost investor confidence.

 

Treatment of Earnest Deposits

 

CBN Director, Financial Policy and Regulation, Kelvin Amugo, said there were inconsistencies in the treatment of Hamish Al Jiddiyya (Earnest Deposit) by Non-Interest (Islamic) Financial Institutions (NIFIs) in Nigeria. He said the apex bank has decided on the need to standardise the treatment of Hamish Al Jiddiyya (HAJ) in line with international best practice.

He explained that Hamish Al Jiddiyyah is an amount advanced by a party making a binding promise to enter into a contract with a counter party, whereby the amount is deposited to serve as compensation for any loss suffered by the counter-party, as a result of breach of promise by the promisor.

There are two options for NFIs regarding holding the amount of HAJ deposited by a customer. Firstly, holding it as an investment deposit on the basis of Mudaraba between the customer (as investor) and the institution (as mudarib), with an explicit permission of the customer.

Secondly, holding it as a trust deposit by the customer in a third party non-interest bank with a standing order by the customer that the amount will only be withdrawn with the express authority of the benefiting financial institution.

It is permissible for the institution to agree with the customer that the mount of Hamish Al Jiddiyyah will be deducted from the mount payable by the customer pursuant to the contract of Murabha to the purchase order with the agreement of the customer which is done after execution of the Murabaha or Ijarah contract between the institution and the customer.

It is, therefore, a form of security indicating the commitment of a customer as regards his obligation to execute the contract in question. The amount of HAJ may be determined in accordance with the agreement of the two parties, either as a lump sum or a percentage of the purchase price of the item that is the subject of the contract.

However, where the customers fulfill his promise and executes the contract with financial institution, the Hamish Al Jiddiyyah is to be returned to the customer.

 

Experts speak

 

The President, Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Dr. Ahmad Ali, said Islamic banking has the capacity to boost economic growth and development in Nigeria.

He said the banking system could help the government to raise huge sums to finance developmental projects in the country.

He added that it would assist small and medium enterprises to grow through availability of cheap credit facilities.

He identified lack of awareness of Islamic banking, indigenous experts or professionals to undertake Islamic banking and misconception about Islamic financing as some of the challenges inhibiting the growth of Islamic banking in Nigeria and Africa.

Ali said: “Islamic banking is going to be of great benefit to Nigeria because Islamic banking is very simple. The principles themselves are very simple. It is something that can help SMEs and countries because we know that now a lot of countries are looking for fund, issuing suku.

“For commercial banking, a lot of countries are borrowing money from the capital market through bond. You can tap into the bigger market of Islamic Banking as many Muslim countries have a lot of funds to offer. In that way it can finance of the development of Nigeria.”

An international expert in Islamic finance, Sheik Abdulkader Thomas said deposits from non-interest banking could be deployed into infrastructure funding and other developmental projects.

Thomas, who is an American living in Kuwait, described Nigeria as a huge market for non-interest banking, given its large population base. He said the banking concept is a viable means of gathering huge deposits, adding that though Nigeria’s infrastructure is weak, deposits from non-interest banking can be used to fix it.

He said: “We have to look at a country like Nigeria from a different perspective. Kuwait has small population, with very high wealth. But Nigeria has very large population. We believe that non-interest banking will be very important to gather savings from the grassroots population.”

He said the billions of dollars in the non-interest banking accounts globally, cannot find its way into Nigeria; rather, the country should generate its own funds to finance key projects and create wealth for its citizens.

President, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Ariyo Olushekun, said prospects for Islamic finance were bright. He said the finance system had become necessary since a very significant proportion of the population believe that based on the capital market and the dictates of their religion, they cannot invest in the market. He said there was, therefore, the need to develop products that are attractive to these set of investors to allow easy flow of their funds into the market.

“The one that is popular is Islamic finance. Some Christians also do not like certain things, some do not like alcohol, some cannot put their money in companies producing arms and ammunitions some cannot put their money into companies that are gambling and all that. So, all these funds are outside the market, we need to bring them in, call them any name. If traditional or Idol worshippers need certain product, develop it and use it to bring their money into the market. The same thing applies to everybody,” he said.

Olushekun explained that these products are limited to any religion, adding that what is important is to improve the depth of the market by introducing products and instruments that will channel funds and savings into the market. This, he said, would allow those who have projects to raise limitless amount from the market to execute those projects.

 

Capitalisation

 

The CBN guidelines on non-interest banking put the minimum capital base of N10 billion for National Islamic Banks and N5 billion for regional Islamic banks. However, the regulator allows deposit money banks to offer non-interest banking products, using existing structure such as the branches, even manpower.

 

Nigeria’s perspective

 

Nigeria’s profile as Africa’s most liquid debt market after South Africa has been rising since JP Morgan and Barclays last year, included its bonds in their sovereign bond indices, encouraging greater foreign participation in its debt market. The use of Islamic finance in Africa could grow further as several north and sub-Saharan African countries including Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa and Kenya are laying the legal groundwork to issue sukuk, an Islamic finance bond.

Osun State has floated the country’s first Islamic bond, taking a major step towards developing an Islamic finance industry in the country. Analysts said the Nigerian Sharia-compliant bond issued by the state while relatively small at $62 million, signaled the start of a trend.

The sukuk is based on an ijara structure, a common leasing arrangement in Islamic finance, which bans payment of interest. Sukuk have become an increasingly popular investment globally, particularly among cash-rich funds in the Gulf and Southeast Asia.

The CBN has so far registered Jaiz Bank, and has given a licence to Stanbic IBTC Bank to operate some window. Sterling Bank also has approval to operate an Islamic window. This is in addition to the work being done by the National Insurance Commission to promote Takaful, an Islamic insurance product. More banks are expected to in consider Islamic finance tools as means of boosting the cash positions.

 

Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf and Joe Agbro Jr. in this report review progress made thus far three years after the apex bank approved licence for the takeoff of the first zero-interest banking, popularly known as Islamic banking

WHEN the news went abuzz that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was tinkering with the idea of issuing licenses for the operation of non-interest banking aka Islamic banking in the country, it elicited mixed reactions with many arguing over its propriety or otherwise.

But the rash of criticisms notwithstanding, proponents of the Islamic banking model in the country were more than convinced at the time that it is a welcomed development owing to its socio-economic benefits.

Concerned over the welter of criticism against Islamic banking, CBN’s Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability (FSS), Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, had a hectic time trying to convince the aggrieved parties on the propriety of the idea of Islamic banking at the time.

Moghalu who spoke at different fora at the time, emphasised that Islamic banking and other forms of non-interest banking were part of effort by the apex bank to stimulate financial inclusion in the country.

Non-interest banking is not new banking model he said, adding: “It is a form of banking under specialised banking model. The reason for an expert advisory council in the guideline is because of the nature of non-interest banking under the principle of Islamic commercial jurisdiction. All banks that are Islamic banks have that type of council. So the regulator in this context felt the need to have a council that advises it on the compliance of the products that those banks will issue with the principle of Islamic commercial jurisdiction.

“I will like to very clearly assure Nigerians that non-interest banking is part of our plans to increase the inclusion into the financial sector, people who have stayed out of the financial system for various reasons. There is no agenda; it is simply finance and not religion. I want to further assure Nigerians very clearly that non-interest bank application is welcomed at the CBN”, he further explained.

Subsequently, the CBN after a rethink, changed the initial N25b capital requirement and issued a revised guideline on non-interest banking as well as prescribed a capital base requirement of N10b and N5b for all prospective Islamic banks applying for national and regional licences respectively in the country.

Of all the prospects, Jaiz Bank Plc, earned a regional license to operate the first fully fledged non-interest Islamic bank in Nigeria in November 2011.

Three years down the line, the rest as they say is history, as Jaiz Bank has since achieved some height of success as adjudged by some of its patrons.

In an interview with a cross-section of individuals, they spoke not only spoke glowingly of the Islamic bank project but noted that Jaiz Bank has come to symbolise everything good about non-interest banking.

In the view of Mallam Abdulkadri Kassim, a finance expert, he said of Islamic banking: “The three most distinguishing factors that make Islamic finance unique from the conventional system are prohibition of Riba (interest) in all its forms, risk-sharing and asset-backed. The last factor eliminates speculation, extreme uncertainty, etc in financing and encourages growth of the real economy – this made it (Islamic Banking & Finance) more resilient during the world economic meltdown!

“Islamic banking and finance has become very popular and widely accepted as a reliable financial system that has been integrated into the global financial system. For over three decades it has appeared on the world scene as an active player.”

While stressing the numerous benefits of Islamic banking, Kassim said: “The basic principle of Islamic banking is the sharing of profit and loss as opposed to charging of usury (interest). For example, when it comes to the profit from the financing of a project, the financier and the beneficiary share the actual or net profit/loss rather than throwing the risk burden only to the entrepreneur.”

Speaking with The Nation, Mr. Idris Salihu, Head, Corporate Communication Department, Jaiz Bank Plc, gave useful insight on the operations of non-interest banking from the point of view of an operator.

Apparently amused by Jaiz Bank’s status as the only Islamic bank in the country, Salihu chose to rub it in. “Currently, there is only one fully fledged non-Interest Islamic bank in Nigeria and that is Jaiz Bank. There are however a couple of others that have been licensed by the CBN to provide an Islamic banking window alongside their conventional banking platform. I know of Stanbic IBTC and Sterling Bank operating an Islamic bank window.”

Pressed further, he said: “Whereas the minimum capital adequacy ratio (CAR) and statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) expected of all Nigerian banks are respectively set at 10% and 35%, Jaiz’s actual CAR and SLR over the past two years averagely never went below 70% and 75% respectively, making us one of the most capitalised and liquid in the industry by this yardstick. The story is same for Islamic banks in other jurisdictions globally which is inherently due to the unique attributes of our operating model.”

On the economic prospects of Islamic bank, he declared matter-of-factly: “Interestingly, as at the end of 2013 the industry has further grown by nearly a double fold to $1.6trillion from the 2008 estimate though with Islamic banking at the heart of this quantum leap in the industry but the growth can be said to be partly buoyed by the development in the other complimentary sectors (such as Sukuk and Takaful).”

He was however, quick to add that: “In Nigeria, currently, the industry is lacking depth in terms of complimentary institutions in the non-bank Islamic Finance space. But the few operators that are available and the activities in the area are recording laudable achievements. For instance, the notable operator in the capital markets where it offers ethical investment management services following Shari’a principles asset management, private wealth management and financial advisory services is doing well. Its Islamic Stock Index has been a winner at the bourse.

“The Sukuk sector is still in its infancy, but there is evidence of growing interest in the exciting products it can offer; this is evinced by the recent issuance of the first Sukuk in the market by Osun State, which was 20% oversubscribed. On the Takaful sector, a lot has been achieved essentially by the regulator (NAICOM). In 2013, it released the Takaful framework to guide the licensing and operations of Takaful companies. I am aware that there are already a number of applications for licensing that are currently receiving attention in NAICOM.

“The development of the market shall on the one hand depend on the ability and commitment of government and regulators to develop enabling guidelines, policies and instruments. And on the other hand the mutual cooperation among market operators.”

Growing fame of Islamic bank

To many financial pundits, Islamic banking and finance has many benefits and opportunities for the entire population of Nigeria, including Muslims and non-Muslim faithful alike.

Some of these include ethical, transparent, non-discriminatory financial offering, high potential market size with Muslims making up over 50 per cent of the population of the 155million population.

Besides, it is capable of encouraging the large unbanked and informal sector, estimated to contribute at least 55 per cent to the country’s GDP, just as it has the potential to offer over 30% return on equity.Unlike in decades back, when Islamic banking was only common in the Arab and the Muslim worlds, it has since spread to the Far East, Asia, Europe, America and Africa.

It is estimated that there are more than 200 non-interest financial institutions operating in about 75 countries across the globe and still counting.

Though it is said to constitute less than five per cent of the global financial market, the Islamic banking and finance market was growing between 15-20 per cent before the world economic recession of 2008 and thereafter at an average of 15 per cent p.a. In the last four decades, the system has evolved from a small niche visible only in Islamic countries to a profitable, dynamic and resilient competitor at an international level.

Although there are still challenges regarding uniform regulation of Islamic banking and finance, a lot has been achieved by countries that have been in the forefront such as Bahrain, Malaysia, UK, as well as other organizations purposely established to help regulate and standardize Islamic finance practice.

According to a recent IMF study, the global body revealed that Islamic banks performed better in 2008 in terms of profitability, credit and asset growth compared to most of the conventional banks worldwide.

Malaysia has been developing the necessary infrastructure to support the legal and regulatory framework for Islamic finance industry since the 80’s. The Islamic Banking Act was enacted in 1983 and Takaful Act in 1984. The UK (FSA) has also reviewed some of its statutes to accommodate Islamic Finance since 2003.

The industry has also developed self regulatory bodies such as the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Finance Institutions (AAOIFI), the Islamic Financial Service Board (IFSB), International Islamic Financial Markets (IIFM) and International Islamic Rating Agency (IIRA) among others.

The AAOIFI which is based in Bahrain issues standards governing accounting, auditing, corporate governance and capital adequacy for the industry. Similarly the IFSB is an international body headquartered in Malaysia with more than 150 members including the IMF, IDB, World Bank for International Settlements, Central Banks, market players and professional firms.

The body issues Standards and Guidelines on risk management, capital adequacy, corporate governance, etc.

In Nigeria, as part of the ongoing reforms of the banking industry, the Central Bank (CBN) has abolished the Universal Banking Model (of the one-size-fit-all minimum capital of N25bn introduced in 2005) and released new guidelines for different categories of conventional banks as well as that of the Non-interest Banking (NIB) or Islamic banking.

The size of Islamic banks around the world was estimated to be close to US $850 billion at the end of 2008. While Islamic banking remains the main component of the Islamic financial system, the other elements, such as Takaful (Islamic Insurance), Mutual Funds and Sukuk (Islamic bonds and financial certificates), have witnessed strong global growth, too.

According to a reliable estimate, the Islamic financial industry now amounts to over US $1 trillion and projected to hit $1.6tr by 2012. Given its fast-growing nature the industry is estimated to double in size in less than a decade – other things being equal.

Global financial institutions offering Islamic Banking services include HSBC, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Barclays Capital and ABN Amro. These institutions are leveraging on their skills, resources, expertise and access to capital to drive the Islamic finance industry to higher levels.

There are also other local/regional banks especially in the GCC countries which have started to expand their operations across their borders into other countries. These include Al-Rajhi Bank of Saudi Arabia, Dubai Islamic Bank, Kuwait Finance House, and Al Baraka Group. In Africa, the countries that have embraced Islamic Banking include South Africa, Egypt, Senegal, Gambia, Niger, Kenya, Tanzania, Algeria, Tunisia, and Benin Republic.