Rushdi Siddiqui, an Islamic Finance and Halal industry pioneer, is joining DinarStandard™, a growth strategy research and advisory firm specializing in the global Islamic economies, as Senior Partner and Global Leader/ Head Islamic Economy.
The Islamic economy, especially its Halal food and lifestyle sectors (fashion, tourism, pharma, cosmetics, and media/recreation), is a burgeoning global phenomenon. DinarStandard recently released the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report, in partnership with Thomson Reuters. The groundbreaking report has sized and forecasted the market potential of the fast growing global Halal food & lifestyle sectors at $1.62 trillion in consumer expenditure in 2012 and expected to reach $2.47 trillion by 2018.
Mr. Siddiqui has been in the Islamic economy space for the last 15 years, and helped establish and launch the Dow Jones Islamic Index in 1998. Afterwards, he took on the role of Global Head of Islamic Finance & OIC Countries for Thomson Reuters, and led a global team to establish the world’s first Islamic finance Gateway, Islamic Inter-bank benchmark rate (IIBR), and a Halal food index (SAMI). Most recently, he co-founded and served as Managing Director of Azka Capital, a private equity advisory firm for the $2.6 trillion Halal Industry.
“I am excited about taking my experience from Dow Jones indexes, Thomson Reuters and Azka Capital to help lead DS to address the needs of stakeholders in the six silos of the $1.62 trillion Islamic lifestyle economy with connectivity to Islamic capital. The Islamic economy needs a global, “go-to” five-star quality consulting firm, and DS has provided ‘McKinsey quality’ work for western companies, country tourism boards, OIC governments, private equity firms, SMEs, and non-profits. In today’s fast moving and complex environment, the market values timely deliverables, with ground breaking and innovative ‘think work’.” said Rushdi Siddiqui.
“We are delighted to welcome Mr. Siddiqui to DinarStandard. As global brands Nestle, Carrefour, Marriott, Pfizer, regional investment firms, as well as thousands of SME’s grapple with serving this fast growing, global, and complex market, Mr. Siddiqui is poised to drive DinarStandard’s market intelligence and strategy leadership in this space to serve such organizations,” said Rafi-uddin Shikoh, Managing Director & CEO of DinarStandard.
The lack of convergence between the related Halal food & lifestyle sectors and Islamic finance sector has led Mr. Siddiqui to refer to the two segments as “twins separated at birth.” Today, there is very little connectivity between Islamic finance and Halal food – the two big segments of the Islamic economy. According to DinarStandard analysis, while the broader food and agriculture segment within OIC countries has seen 340 completed investment transactions (between 2011-2013) with total disclosed value of transactions at $14.9 billion, only 17 completed transactions relating to Halal food companies were reported world-wide with the seven disclosed deal amounts adding to $22 million only.
The full ‘State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2013″ can be downloaded at the website – http://www.dinarstandard.com.
About DinarStandard™
DinarStandard™ is a growth strategy research and advisory firm empowering organizations for profitable and responsible global impact. DinarStandard specializes in the Halal/Tayyab food, Islamic/Ethical Finance, Halal travel, Islamic NGO’s and OIC member country sectors. Since 2008, DinarStandard has been advising organizations globally on market expansion, business/investment strategy, and innovative marketing strategies. Its clients include global multi-nationals, Islamic financial institutions, Halal market startups and NGOs, served by a team of research & strategy associates from across the USA, as well as from France, Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Nigeria, and the UAE.
