President Establishes Waqf Investment Company Days After Announcing Two SOE Dissolutions
- President Muizzu established Maldives Awqaf Investments Limited via Presidential Decree No. 14/2026 to manage waqf properties and mosque development.
- The company will develop, maintain and manage waqf assets, construct and refurbish mosques, and undertake Sharia-compliant commercial activities for sustainable religious funding.
- The move follows plans announced five days earlier to dissolve FENAKA and RDC, showing restructuring is not a blanket SOE reduction.
The government has expanded the state-owned corporate sector with a new company dedicated to waqf properties and mosque development, days after announcing plans to dissolve two major companies to reduce costs and operational duplication.
President Dr Mohamed Muizzu established Maldives Awqaf Investments Limited through Presidential Decree No. 14/2026, using the powers granted to the President under Section 15 of the Companies Act.
The company will develop, maintain and manage waqf properties across the Maldives, with income from these assets intended to provide sustainable funding for religious affairs. Waqf refers to property or other assets held as an Islamic endowment for religious or charitable purposes.
Its responsibilities will also extend to constructing, maintaining and refurbishing mosques, as well as providing and upgrading essential mosque facilities. The company has also been authorised to undertake sustainable commercial activities that comply with Sharia principles.
The establishment marks a departure from the government’s immediate recent emphasis on reducing costs and consolidating parts of the state-owned sector. Five days earlier, President Muizzu announced that FENAKA Corporation Limited would be dissolved and its utility services transferred to the State Electric Company, while the Road Development Corporation would be dissolved and its operations consolidated under the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company.
The government said those changes were intended to reduce staffing duplication, eliminate unnecessary expenditure and place SOEs on a more efficient and financially sustainable footing. Although the new company has a specialised mandate, its creation indicates that the restructuring is not intended as a blanket reduction in the number of SOEs, with new entities still being formed to deliver specific government policies.
Details of the company’s management structure, staffing requirements, waqf property portfolio and expected timeline for commencing commercial operations have not yet been disclosed.
