ALLIANCE ISLAMIC BANK'S AZAM PROGRAMME CHANNELS RM450,000 FINANCING TO 103 ASNAF ENTREPRENEURS

KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 (Bernama) -- The Alliance Islamic Bank Zakat Microfinancing Programme (AZAM), launched in December 2023 in collaboration with Lembaga Zakat Selangor and Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia, has chanelled financing amounting to RM450,000 to 103 asnaf micro-entrepreneurs.

Alliance Islamic Bank Bhd chief executive officer Rizal IL-Ehzan Fadil Azim said the fund was channeled through the first two cohorts, with each receiving an allocation of RM225,000. 

“Although the allocation is small, it has a large impact based on the AZAM Impact Report (an independent study on the first cohort by entrepreneur support organisation Satu Creative), with revenue growth of asnaf micro-entrepreneurs reaching up to 150 per cent although the average income growth was 36 per cent (within a year of joining AZAM).

“So, imagine (what would happen) if we expand further the programme’s social fund from what we did in the pilot phase,” he told a media conference after giving a presentation on the report’s findings here today.

Rizal IL-Ehzan said 135 asnaf micro-entrepreneurs are targeted to participate in AZAM’s third cohort which is scheduled to kick off in August 2025.

“We hope the number of participants will increase from time to time. As for us at Alliance Islamic Bank, if our profit increases, our zakat funds will accordingly increase and, God willing, the zakat wakalah fund for the AZAM programme will also grow,” he said.

On Alliance Islamic Bank’s plan to collaborate with Islamic religious councils in states other than Selangor as well as corporations, he said several state zakat boards have expressed interest to participate in the programme.

“We will continue to collaborate with zakat authorities across Malaysia to expand this programme further,” he said.

AZAM, rooted in the principles of Value-Based Intermediation and Maqasid Shariah, is Malaysia’s first Islamic social funding programme that introduces a new approach in disbursing zakat in a more sustainable and productive manner.

-- BERNAMA