Muslim community gathers $15 billion leaders for Davos charity summit
A tiny Muslim community that counts some of the faith’s highest achievers is gathering them together for the first time to better give away their money.
The inaugural Khoja Business Leaders’ Summit was born out of the idea of connecting the global entrepreneurs, philanthropists and high achievers from the Khoja community of Shia Muslims.
At the prestigious summit in Davos from Friday 8 to Sunday 10 September they will collaborate on plans to make their humanitarian giving even more effective.
The net worth of the attendees is estimated at $15 billion.
The Khoja community numbers only 125,000 worldwide – including just over 10,000 people in the UK – but its acumen for trade and business mean members have been disproportionately successful.
They include the founders of two of Africa’s few $1bn businesses, multi-millionaire entrepreneurs from around the globe, diplomats, acclaimed doctors … down to a 14-year-old Wimbledon winner from Watford.
Central to the Khoja principles is “giving back” and the community excels in philanthropy, from building schools, sanitation and health centres to supporting women, orphans and the elderly. Members support charitable work in the UK, USA and across the developing world. Khoja Institutions such as The World Federation of KSIMC (a UK Registered Charity) annually collect and spend over £20 million in charitable activities and the Community itself is estimated to spend over £150 million per year.
Attendees at the summit include London-based Saleem Asaria, CEO of Cambian Group plc, one of the largest providers of specialist behavioural health services for children in the UK.
One of the summit organising team is Birmingham-based Shan Hassam, who runs his own £40 million business at the age of 32. He said: “We are passionate about harnessing the talent within the Khoja community and galvanising our institutions to do even greater good. Collectively, we can achieve incredible things. It is critical that those who are blessed give back.”
In his opening speech, summit Chair Sibtein Asaria will say: “From our remarkable worldwide community of little more than 125,000 individuals, we have invited 125 of you, to be ambassadors. We expect each of you to go back and inspire 1,000 members of our community, to build a global network of common goals and ideals to better serve Humanity at large.”
The event will close with the signing of a Khoja Davos Accord, a blueprint for future engagement with the world community for the benefit of all.
Sibtein Alibhai Asaria is the Founder of Grupo Alfa Corporation, a leading business conglomerate based in the Republic of Costa Rica and with interests on three more continents.
Committed to an ethos of adding value to the Khoja community and to humanity at large, he has also played a significant role in landmark World Federation projects.
Alibhai began his business career in 1982 by starting a food-manufacturing business during his university years. He subsequently expanded the company into a coffee-roasting business, supplying customers in Canada and seventeen states across the eastern United States. In 1989 he visited Costa Rica to vertically integrate the business, but identified fresh opportunities to develop a shopping mall near the bustling city of San Jose. Two years later he moved to Costa Rica and began investing in real estate projects.
Alibhai's scope is global. Grupo Alfa is a conglomerate of ten major local and international companies, with different commercial backgrounds across real estate development, construction, finance, retail, family entertainment, insurance, fast food, gold trading and mining. His most recent venture is healthcare, with an emphasis on developing care homes for the elderly across Europe.
His interests stretch from Costa Rica to the United Arab Emirates, Portugal and countries in East and West Africa. His global credentials are underlined by the fact that he speaks English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Hindi and Gujarati.
He has carefully nurtured strong relationships with individuals, corporates and conglomerates around the globe, allowing the Group to increase its international footprint.
Alibhai is a strong believer in philanthropy and is a highly regarded Khoja community leader.
He was appointed the Ambassador for the renowned Jaffari Community Centre, a $35 million project in Toronto, Canada, where he helped raise donations from the worldwide Khoja community.
He is also the elected Chairman of The World Federation Foundation Fund, a cause he is passionate about as he feels the community’s organizations must be run in a sustainable and strategic manner. He believes the Foundation Fund will help strengthen The World Federation for decades to come.
Alibhai Asaria is also involved in philanthropic efforts as a director of the Asaria Family Foundation, whose mission is the “eradication of poverty through education”.
Established in 2009, the Foundation has contributed to various World Federation and Africa Federation sponsored projects around the world, focusing on education, outreach, economic uplift, health and welfare, and supporting the building of mosques.
In Costa Rica, the Foundation has negotiated an 80-plot cemetery and is in the process of negotiating the purchase of a property to establish a Congregating Centre in San Jose. The Foundation has also continued work originated by Alibhai's mother in providing food and clothing to poor rural communities in remote regions of the country.
The Foundation works with local churches and ministries to get the maximum impact in these Costa Rican communities.
