Al Baraka Bank South Africa history

In 1982, Kamel became one of the first to launch an Islamic bank, incorporating Albaraka Investment and Development Company (ABID) as a vehicle for the creation of banks, insurance companies, and investment firms based on Islamic financial theory.

In 1983, the company participated in the Tunis Lake project, a complex of commercial and residential developments covering some 13,000,000 square meters.

The move into transportation also included freight services, and in 1986 the company established Dallah Transport Co.

The involvement in healthcare led the company to expand into hospital ownership as well with the opening of the Dallah Hospital in Riyadh in 1987.

That company profited from Kamel's closer relationship with the Saudi government, winning a large number of airport and related concessions in the country, such as the contract to maintain and operate the country's air traffic control system in 1988.

Al Baraka Bank was established in South Africa in 1989, in order to provide the communities, companies and individuals of this country, with the opportunity of Banking with the guiding principles of Shari'ah.

Arab Radio and Television (ART) began broadcasting in 1993 and quickly extended its coverage to include five channels available to much of the Arab-speaking world.

In Bahrain, the company opened Islamic Insurance & Re-Insurance, while in Jordan, ABID's Jordan Islamic Bank opened the Islamic Mutual Insurance Company in 1994.

Dallah Albaraka's involvement in media operations--the company also acquired stakes in three Saudi daily newspapers, as a well as a 10 percent stake in Ashar Al-Awsat publisher Saudi Resarch--led it to restructure its operations in 1995.

The company's real estate projects included the launch of the Durrat Al-Arus Trousitci City on the Red Sea in 1997.

In 1999, the company appointed Kuwait's The International Investor (TII) to guide the consolidation of the Albaraka banking network.

Kamel and the Dallah Albaraka group faced several difficult years following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.