Kuala Lumpur, 17 April 2020 – Alliance Islamic Bank Berhad (“Alliance Islamic Bank”) today announced a new collaboration with Citrine Capital, NGOhub, and Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) to help local social enterprises[1] remain sustainable during this challenging times. This is to ensure that these social enterprises can continue to provide relief, employment, and supplies to communities-in-need.
“Social enterprises play an important role in helping marginalised communities earn a living and sustain their livelihood. Like any small and medium enterprises (SMEs), these social enterprises too have overhead costs to consider for their operations. With minimal opportunity to generate revenue during this crisis, social enterprises too lack the financial capacity to continue with their work of bringing relief to the underprivileged,” said Alliance Islamic Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, En. Rizal IL-Ehzan bin Fadil Azim.
He added, “This ecosystem, built in alliance with our strategic partners, is inspired by the values of social enterprises to make a positive contribution within the value chain. It creates a double-impact outcome where the social enterprises can sustain their operations and assist communities-in-need at the same time. In this time of need, we are here for our communities to weather the challenging period together.”
MaGIC Chief Executive Officer, Dzuleira Abu Bakar said, “MaGIC is delighted to participate in this innovative collaboration with like-minded partners who are equally passionate about supporting our country’s social enterprises. It is truly a reflection of how our community can come together to be social innovators and devise solutions that benefit society.”
She further commented, “We have been working closely with social enterprises for years, from capacity building through our programmes to offering the country’s first accreditation system to recognise their status. Through this unique initiative, we are hoping to help social enterprises continue the good work - providing vital livelihood to their beneficiaries and more importantly, helping communities affected by the COVID19 pandemic.”
Individuals and corporates are welcomed to contribute towards the initiative via AIliance Islamic Bank’s social crowdfunding platform, SocioBiz. The initiative aims to raise RM200,000 to be used by participating social enterprises to procure basic essential items such as food and hand sanitisers. These will go towards helping the local communities such as the orang asli and B40 that are impacted by COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier, the Bank had initiated a call for submissions from social enterprises who seek funding through the SocioBiz platform. Shortlisted entities have been informed accordingly.
For the full list of ongoing campaigns under this initiative and to donate directly, please visit sdqh.link/sesi.
