Malaysia reveals new Halal food fund worth $ 500 m

A new fund focusing on Halal food opportunities has been launched on 3 April, with Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and industry veteran Rushdi Siddiqui at its helm. Called the ‘Halal Opportunities Fund’ and worth a total of US$ 500 million, the fund will target the global Halal food industry indiscriminately.

Newly established private equity advisory firm focusing on Halal industry initiatives, Azka Capital, has been mandated as manager to the fund while global Shariah compliant consultancy Amanie Advisors will act as advisor to the fund’s upcoming transactions.

“The fund will be raised in stages and the aim, through a roll-up strategy, is to acquire, convert non-Halal companies and grow companies in the food and agri-business sectors so as to have global reach, as well as offer a diverse range of high quality quick-service restaurant products and services,” said Rushdi Siddiqui, Azka Capital’s Managing Director and Co-Founder. He was previously the global head of Islamic finance and OIC countries at Thomson Reuters.

Rushdi also noted that the highly fragmented nature of the Halal food industry would benefit from a consolidated strategy, as food security has become an integral part of national security policy. This is mainly because many Muslim countries are net importers of food and generally do not have purview over the supply chains.

OIC countries import over US$ 40 billion in food a year, while Brazil is currently the world’s leading Halal food exporter, at US$ 14.83 billion. These figures are anticipated to grow as the Muslim population is expected to increase to 2.2 billion by 2030 from the present 1.6 billion.