The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and Bloomberg LP will work together to deliver a financial education programme for university students in nine countries in Asia and Africa.
The nine IDB member countries involved in the programme are Bangladesh, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nigeria, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.
The IDB and Bloomberg will announce participating universities over the coming months.
The programme will leverage the Bloomberg Terminal to support the growth of the Islamic finance sector and empower students in leading universities with the financial skills needed to excel in the professional world.
The programme will equip the next generation of leaders in sectors with the foundational principles of financial markets. By delivering practical real-world experiences, training will enable students to build competencies and transferable skills that are highly sought after by employers.
It is also designed to support the long-term growth of the Islamic finance industry through specialised training on market infrastructure and areas like transparency, connectivity and compliance across central banks and regulators.
At the programme's core will be IDB-Bloomberg certification, composed of a series of challenges and modules specially designed for the selected countries and delivered by Bloomberg market specialists. These include the Bloomberg Islamic Finance module to introduce students to the principles of Islamic finance and the relevant tools available on the Bloomberg Terminal.
Top performing students will be recommended for internship opportunities at IDB.
IDB President Dr Bandar Hajjar said: "The launch of the Capacity and Skills Building Programme with Bloomberg is important to IDB Group to prepare young people for the 21st-century jobs and the labour market requirements.
"We hope this programme will contribute to providing a number of our member countries with a group of young people capable of bringing about a qualitative leap in increasing productivity and enhancing competitiveness in some vital and pioneering productive sectors in these countries."
Through this partnership, the two parties will seek to develop tailored financial literacy and education programmes across the selected IDB member countries in a manner consistent with the Fourth Industrial Revolution's applications to build a new generation of skilled workers, Dr Bandar added.
As part of the programme, Bloomberg LP will also offer the Bloomberg Market Concept course.
BMC provides an interactive introduction to the financial markets, with modules covering economic indicators, currencies, fixed income, equities, portfolio management, stock options, and commodities.
Students will receive the Bloomberg Market Concept Certificate after completing the seven-course modules, supporting their job applications at financial firms, according to the IDB.
