Emirates Development Bank (EDB) and the Ministry of Economy recognized and rewarded all the banking and FinTech partners involved in the Bank’s Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS) on Monday. The CGS is part of EDB’s ambitious five-year strategy aimed at empowering SMEs and large corporates in five priority sectors: manufacturing, technology, healthcare, renewables, and food security. The Bank aims to deploy AED 30 billion in financing support to 13,500 companies within these sectors by 2026.
Representatives from EDB’s 10 partner banks gathered at a special award ceremony held at the Ministry of Economy’s DIFC offices. Updates were shared about the success of the CGS and recognition awards were presented to the partners for their crucial role in facilitating access to financing for SMEs in the UAE.
Abdullah Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy said that “Thanks to the credit guarantees and co-lending schemes offered by the partnership to support SME financing, we have seen considerable increase in SME deployment and distribution in the UAE last year. The partnership has successfully proved its ability to bridge the funding gap for SMEs and strengthen the UAE’s SME ecosystem, supporting the national agenda to build a robust knowledge-based economy.”
Ahmed Al Naqbi, CEO of Emirates Development Bank, said that “Today marks a significant milestone in our journey to support the economic strength of the UAE. We aim to create a nationwide ecosystem for financing innovation and enhancing bankability and financial inclusion of mSMEs. This can only be achieved through partnerships. We recognize the strong working relationships we have with our partner banks and FinTech partners, who have played a crucial role in the success of the CGS. We will continue to work together to support SMEs, the backbone of our economy. Today, we are also proud to celebrate that since the launch of our new strategy in April 2021, we have deployed AED 813 million in Credit Guarantee Scheme capital, which is a testament to our commitment to empowering SMEs and driving economic growth.”
The Bank invited senior representatives from Commercial Bank of Dubai, National Bank of Umm-Quwain, Emirates NBD, ADCB, FAB, Mashreq, RAK Bank, National Bank of Fujairah, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates Islamic Bank along with the CEO and Co-founders of fintechs, YAP and Beehive to receive recognition trophies, highlighting their support of the Credit Guarantee Scheme.
EDB is committed to supporting the growth of SMEs and promoting innovation in the UAE’s business landscape. In line with this mission, EDB offers its digital services to UAE-based SMEs through the ‘EDB Business Banking’ app, powered by YAP. The app provides a business bank account and an IBAN number within 48 hours, along with a comprehensive range of fast, secure, and round-the-clock banking services. To further enable SMEs, EDB has partnered with Beehive, integrating a new digital lending feature that allows eligible SMEs to apply for loans of up to AED 5 million directly through the ‘EDB Business Banking’ app and receive approval or feedback within five days. For a seamless user experience, the app is integrated with UAE Pass. Since its launch in September 2021, the EDB Business Banking app has successfully onboarded 2,094 customers.
SMEs can also receive support via a range of non-financial products and services, including The Business Lab, an online platform that provides free essential resources and content to help entrepreneurs at various stages of their business development. Entrepreneurs can receive practical professional tips on how to address common business challenges delivered through short films.
EDB offers a patient debt approach with an emphasis on developmental impact. The CGS is part of EDB’s five-year strategy aimed at empowering SMEs and large corporates in five priority sectors, and the Bank aims to deploy AED 30 billion in financing support to 13,500 companies within these sectors by 2026. The partner banks were awarded recognition trophies for their crucial role in facilitating access to financing for SMEs in the UAE. EDB is committed to supporting the growth of SMEs and promoting innovation in the UAE’s business landscape, and it offers a range of digital services, non-financial products, and services to enable and support SMEs.
