Khalifa Fund began its funding programmes in 2007 with the establishment of ‘Khutwa’, ‘Bedaya’, ‘Zeyada’, Tasneea’ and ‘Al Hassilah’.

Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development developed and published an ‘Impact Report’, which measures the effectiveness of their funding programmes between 2007-2019, and how their various forms of funding have helped develop SMEs and shape the future of the UAE’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

According to its new report published on Monday the Fund said it has issued a total of Dhs1.32 billion ($359 million) in loans and directly created 15,000 jobs between 2017 and 2019.

The 54-page report assessed how the UAE’s economy and GDP were impacted, how the SME sector performed financially, and how many jobs were created directly as a result of loans from Khalifa Fund.

The report used six key indicators to gauge the level of impact the various forms of funding provided, including: enterprise creation, job creation, financial and economic analysis, internationalisation and perceived operational impact. The indictors showed Khalifa Fund’s funding resulted in: the creation of 15,000 jobs in the UAE market, 1,800 of which for Emiratis; 1,168 activated loans, with an accumulative sum of Dhs1.32 billion; 152 projects that export to international markets; the establishment of 6 per cent of the Emirati SMEs; and an overall ROI of 15.5 per cent.

Mouza Al Nasri, Acting CEO of Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, stated: “The Impact Report provides nuanced insight into the details of Khalifa Fund’s long-term commitment towards being the primary source of financial support for SMEs in the UAE”.

“Khalifa Fund’s loans to the SME sector have resulted in major positive implications for the national economy, with SMEs being essential to the composition of the UAE’s economic landscape; making up 98 per cent of businesses in the country, providing 29 per cent of the national GDP, and 44 per cent of the non-oil economy. We have seen an abundance of success in our Emirate-wide, nationwide and globally funded projects, in terms of monetary success, economic growth and job creation for Emirati’s and expats alike.”

She added: “The efforts of Khalifa Fund will have a long-lasting impact, reflected in the ongoing success of our SMEs. We take pride in diligently offering strategically developed, tailor-made loans to our diverse and rich talent pool of UAE entrepreneurs, and we will continue to remain dedicated to making the UAE amongst the world’s most attractive hubs for entrepreneurial growth.”

Khalifa Fund began its funding programmes in 2007 with the establishment of ‘Khutwa’, ‘Bedaya’, ‘Zeyada’, Tasneea’ and ‘Al Hassilah’. In addition to their microcredit programmes, Khalifa Fund continue to provide UAE SMEs with non-monetary support, such as: capability building, training workshops, empowerment initiatives, business plan development, supporting SMEs during the implementation and set-up phase, and operational assistance.

Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development recently revealed their end-of-year results, achievements and statistics through their 2020 Annual Report. The Fund successfully finished the year with achievements in cultivating entrepreneurial culture and creating the appropriate environment to develop the SME sector. Notably, Khalifa Fund was able to develop tools, initiatives and programs with the aim of decreasing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on small and medium enterprises.

The Khalifa Fund 2020 annual report revealed several positive indicators achieved last year, including: conducting 130 training courses of which 8,643 entrepreneurs benefitted from, 2,263 new applications. Despite the unprecedented circumstances that affected the world at large, Khalifa Fund was able to approve 10 new loans, amounting to about 8 million dirhams, and increase the total number of activated loans to 1,164.

Moreover, the number of active members increased to 435 with over 2,000 projects benefitting from the membership programme since inception, and contributed to the creation of 15,000 job opportunities in the private sector since inception until 2020.

Mouza Al Nasri stated: “Despite what was a challenging year, Khalifa Fund delivered an abundance of support options for entrepreneurs, both financially and operationally. Throughout the year, Khalifa Fund provided mentorship, counselling, technical guidance, government support and deferments of loans during the most challenging periods of COVID-19.

Several projects benefitted from measure taken by the Fund to ensure economic relief following the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on SMEs under the Khalifa Fund umbrella. The Fund restructured loans for 99 projects amounting to Dhs66.77 million through extending their grace periods, and decreasing the value of installments due, as well as restructuring the provision of loan reimbursement for 38 projects.

Khalifa Fund’s efforts contributed to the overall benefit of the UAE economy. The average annual revenue of each project amounted to 3.3 million dirhams, while the average profit for each project was over 235,000 dirhams, based on the latest financial data collected from funded projects.

As well as local efforts, Khalifa Fund also extended its regional and international presence.