Company Database

ESKAN BANK

about this company

Vision

Lead in providing innovative and sustainable housing solutions

Mission

•   Build a strategic alliance with the Ministry of Housing and government bodies towards achieving the overall housing sector objectives of the Government of Bahrain

•   Develop innovative and effective frameworks of partnerships with the private sector for funding social housing beneficiaries and enhancing the supply of housing units

•   Lead in benchmarking socio-economic and environmentally sustainable housing developments

•   Enhance the welfare and empower the Bank’s human capital towards realizing its full potential

Organization Description

Eskan Bank was established in 1979 with a unique social role to provide mortgages for citizens of the Kingdom of Bahrain on low-to-medium incomes, and also to engage in community- related property development activities.

Eskan Bank is the Kingdom’s leading provider of residential mortgages, and a significant player in the property development market. Since inception, the Bank has provided mortgages totalling BD 772,8 million benefiting 54,452 Bahraini families. Eskan Bank’s property development and investment activities embrace real estate investment, construction and property management; as well as finance for the construction of social and affordable homes, Community Projects and commercial projects.

As the Bank’s property development arm, its subsidiary, Eskan Properties Company (EPC), develops social, affordable, community and commercial projects in partnership with the private sector and the Government.

Through its associate companies, Eskan Bank seeks to expand its social and community role. Ebdaa Bank provides micro-financing for low-to-middle income Bahraini families to help them start their own businesses and become financially independent; while Naseej B.S.C. (c) acts as a catalyst in addressing the need for social and affordable housing in the Kingdom, and enabling more Bahrainis on middle incomes to afford home ownership.

The Bank strongly believes in the importance of the private sector’s active involvement in addressing the Kingdom’s housing needs. In this respect, the Bank has structured innovative financial packages to attract private sector participation. It has also established partnerships with property developers and landlords, to construct social and affordable housing units.

Eskan Bank has implemented a five-year strategy which significantly strengthens the scope of the Bank’s activities to support the social agenda of Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030. In particular, it defines the Bank’s role to assist the Ministry of Housing in achieving the Government’s commitment to significantly reduce the backlog of housing applications by Bahraini families on low-to-medium incomes. This is being achieved by accelerating the construction of social housing units in partnership with the private sector.

Wholly-owned by the Government of Bahrain, and with an authorised share capital of BD 400 million and paid-up capital of BD 108.3 million, Eskan Bank operates under a restricted conventional retail banking license issued and regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain. At the end of 2015, total assets of the Bank stood at BD 597.3 million.

Eskan Bank, with its many initiatives continuing to gather pace and interest in the affordable housing sector reaching new heights. This has been achieved through the development of closer working relationships with the Ministry of Housing and the private sector through a focus on building cohesive communities. These relationships have allowed Eskan Bank to continue its pivotal role in Bahrain’s national ambition to provide homes to all on the government housing list, as envisioned by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

Services – Business

1. Disbursing the government housing loans and managing other services like housing units’ rentals.
2. Cooperate and coordinate with Ministry of Housing to execute the Social Housing Finance Scheme (Mazaya), the program which allows citizens to avail of financing from selected banks, to top up the loan being subsidized by the Government of Bahrain. The Scheme was introduced by the Ministry of Housing in October 2013. The number of participating Banks in the program is growing since then. .
3. Pari Passu: Last year, the Bank modified its lending policies to allow for the sharing of ownership of the title deed with banks that agree to the “pari-passu” arrangement. This allows social housing beneficiaries to shop around for the best additional mortgage rate from participating banks. The scheme has been extremely successful, allowing banks to enter the social housing finance market and connecting them with thousands of potential customers.
4. Eskan REIT: EB launched the Kingdom’s first ever Islamic Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) in 2016 offering Bahraini and GCC investors the opportunity to invest in the Bank’s developed realty projects, namely Segaya Plaza and Danaat Al Madina, and benefit from the rental income generated. The Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the fund, the first in Bahrain since 2007, achieved 95.5% subscription. Trust’s total size is BD19.8 million.
5. EB layed the foundation for a sophisticated and sustainable social housing model through “Danat” projects, which offers, since the launch of the first projects Award winning “Danat Almadina” in 2013, hundreds of apartments in vertical modern developments. Two projects have been completed in 2016 and two are in the pipeline which are to offer 4000 units upon completion.

Location

• Head quarter – Seef District, Manama, BAHRAIN.

Branches:

• Danat Almadina
• Diplomatic area

Organization Goals & Objectives

• EB aspires to play an important role in the national housing development in the Kingdom of Bahrain through an integral role with Ministry of Housing as they both share the same mission to deliver a sustainable housing model that facilitates home ownership for all Bahrainis. Through a strong synergy which the Bank established in the past two years with the private sector, the Bank is fully supporting the Ministry in reducing the number of Bahrainis on the national housing waiting list by:
• Providing housing and housing financing solutions to citizens in cooperation with Ministry of Housing and establishing partnerships and tie ups with the private sectors.
• Innovating and creating funding channels to alleviate the burden off the government with regards to housing sector.   
• Tuning the housing culture in the society, especially among the young generation, to the various variables. i, e, promoting for vertical developments.

Leaders

The organization is led by his Excellency Minister of Housing, Engineer Basim Bin Yacoob Al Hamar, Chairman, with team of highly experienced members from public and private sectors.

Dr. Khalid Abdulla, General Manager of Eskan Bank since May 2013. Obtained his MA in Economic Development from the University of East Anglia, UK, in 1986 and his PhD in Economics from Exeter University, UK, in 1991. Started his professional career in the academic field at the University of Bahrain (1980-2000) and then accumulated a banking experience until present.

Staff/Members

The Bank employs 186. Out if which 44 in a position of Manager and above.