Global Investment House, a Kuwait-based investment institution, has closed a $75.4 million (€50 million) shariah-compliant fund, Global MENA Ijarah Real Estate Fund.
The fund has already invested 40 percent of its total after its first capital call, investing in two projects in Palm Jebel Ali in Dubai and two unnamed projects in Kuwait. The vehicle was launched in July 2007, setting a mission to provide development and acquisition financing for a diversified portfolio of real estate properties in the MENA region.
“The MENA region has been recording consistent GDP growth due to a variety of factors,” said GIH vice alternative investments head Shailesh Dash in a statement. “The average GDP within the region increased by 6.3 percent in 2006, up from a 4.6 percent increase during each of the first four years of this decade. We believe that this growth will continue at the rate of 5.5 percent in the year 2007. The MENA region’s GDP increase in 2006 was one of its highest since the 1970s. The current pace of growth has narrowed the gap in per capita income growth between the MENA region and other developing regions.”
GIH currently manages 38 investment funds. Last month it launched Global GCC Real Estate Fund II, a $500 million (€318 million) vehicle focused on investments in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. That fund was the Kuwait-based investment firm’s second property vehicle targeting the GCC region.
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