Company Insights Emirates Development Bank Banking & Finance Emirates Development Bank Overview The Emirates Development Bank (EDB), established in 2015 under the patronage of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is one of the largest banking groups in the Middle East by assets. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi with additional branches in Dubai, EDB focuses on sectors essential to the UAE’s diversification objectives. Its mission is to support startups, SMEs and enterprises by providing customised financial and non-financial services. This covers sectors including manufacturing, healthcare, food security, advanced technology and renewable energy. The bank has a mandate to fund AED30 billion ($8.17 billion) of loans by 2026. Its five funding pillars are manufacturing, renewables, healthcare, agriculture and advanced technology EDB says it prioritises sustainable economic growth over profit. It provides solutions including “patient debt” with longer repayment horizons, SME loan guarantees and specialised banking services for startups. Beyond financing, EDB aims to cultivate a robust startup ecosystem in the UAE by fostering entrepreneurship within education, mentoring programmes and innovation labs. Emirates Development Bank News Manufacturing UAE to direct additional $6bn to local manufacturers The UAE is to direct an additional AED23 billion ($6.3 billion) to local manufacturers as it strives to develop its homegrown sectors and diversify its economy away from a reliance on hydrocarbons. Abu Dhabi state oil company Adnoc will expand its local manufacturing procurement programme for critical industrial products by AED20 billion to AED90 billion […] May 27, 2024 INTERVIEW Agriculture Emirates Development Bank to focus on farmers, says CEO Emirates Development Bank is prioritising food security this year, its CEO has told AGBI, and has billions of dirhams ready to lend to the UAE’s farmers. Food security is one of the five funding pillars of the state-owned EDB, which provides loans and resources to large corporations, SMEs and startups. The bank has a mandate […] April 30, 2024 Manufacturing UAE to open manufacturing centre of excellence in Sharjah A manufacturing centre of excellence is to be set up in Sharjah, its backers announced on Monday. The UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre (known as Sheraa), the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Emirates Development Bank (EDB) have signed a memorandum of understanding for the project. “Hopefully it […] April 29, 2024 Banking & Finance Fitch affirms AA rating for Emirates Development Bank Fitch has affirmed the credit rating of Emirates Development Bank after the lender’s contribution to the UAE’s economy rose by 80 percent to more than AED4 billion ($1.1 billion) last year. The agency’s AA rating came with a stable outlook, indicating confidence in the bank’s long-term ability to maintain its financial stability. In its report, […] April 3, 2024 Agriculture UAE bank invests $196m in food security projects State-owned Emirates Development Bank (EDB) has approved over AED721 million ($196.29 million) in financial support for food security projects since the launch of its new strategy in April 2021. The bank has allocated AED30 billion to support 13,500 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in five priority sectors: manufacturing, renewables, technology, healthcare, and food security. Bank […] October 11, 2023 Banking & Finance UAE development bank in $27m SME solar energy drive State-run Emirates Development Bank has launched a solar energy finance programme to support micro, small, and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the UAE to overcome cost barriers. The initiative will allocate AED100 million ($27.22 million) to support the adoption of green energy solutions, focusing on solar energy initiatives, the UAE state-owned Wam news agency reported. The […] September 8, 2023 Analysis Trade Costa Rica sets up UAE for Central America trade Talks to establish a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with Costa Rica could signal a new push by the UAE to strengthen trade ties in Central America. Manuel Tovar Rivera, Costa Rica’s minister of foreign trade, said the proposed Cepa would boost collaboration between the wider Central America and Middle East regions. Experts told AGBI that […] June 9, 2023 Logistics DP World moves to close trade finance gap for SMEs DP World has launched a digital trade finance platform to build relations between small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and financial institutions and boost trade. The platform gives borrowers access to trade finance while helping lenders assess companies by providing data, visibility and transparency on global trade movements. This allows them to analyse potential areas […] April 25, 2023 Banking & Finance Emirates Development Bank loans to SMEs up 387% Emirates Development Bank (EDB) approved a total of AED1.8 billion ($490 million) in loans to small and medium-sized enterprises in 2022 – a year-on-year increase of 387 percent. This consisted of AED1.2 billion of direct financing and AED611 million of indirect financing through EDB’s credit guarantee scheme with partner commercial banks. SMEs make up around […] March 2, 2023 Cop28 Clean energy investment may be hit by economic slowdown The global economic downturn could have serious implications on investment into clean energy and cause climate change targets to be pushed back, experts have warned. Elias Hajj, senior partner at McKinsey & Co, said during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week that an estimated $6 trillion is needed annually to fund the transition to clean energy. But […] January 19, 2023 Posts navigation 1 2 Next
Manufacturing UAE to direct additional $6bn to local manufacturers The UAE is to direct an additional AED23 billion ($6.3 billion) to local manufacturers as it strives to develop its homegrown sectors and diversify its economy away from a reliance on hydrocarbons. Abu Dhabi state oil company Adnoc will expand its local manufacturing procurement programme for critical industrial products by AED20 billion to AED90 billion […] May 27, 2024
INTERVIEW Agriculture Emirates Development Bank to focus on farmers, says CEO Emirates Development Bank is prioritising food security this year, its CEO has told AGBI, and has billions of dirhams ready to lend to the UAE’s farmers. Food security is one of the five funding pillars of the state-owned EDB, which provides loans and resources to large corporations, SMEs and startups. The bank has a mandate […] April 30, 2024
Manufacturing UAE to open manufacturing centre of excellence in Sharjah A manufacturing centre of excellence is to be set up in Sharjah, its backers announced on Monday. The UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre (known as Sheraa), the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Emirates Development Bank (EDB) have signed a memorandum of understanding for the project. “Hopefully it […] April 29, 2024
Banking & Finance Fitch affirms AA rating for Emirates Development Bank Fitch has affirmed the credit rating of Emirates Development Bank after the lender’s contribution to the UAE’s economy rose by 80 percent to more than AED4 billion ($1.1 billion) last year. The agency’s AA rating came with a stable outlook, indicating confidence in the bank’s long-term ability to maintain its financial stability. In its report, […] April 3, 2024
Agriculture UAE bank invests $196m in food security projects State-owned Emirates Development Bank (EDB) has approved over AED721 million ($196.29 million) in financial support for food security projects since the launch of its new strategy in April 2021. The bank has allocated AED30 billion to support 13,500 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in five priority sectors: manufacturing, renewables, technology, healthcare, and food security. Bank […] October 11, 2023
Banking & Finance UAE development bank in $27m SME solar energy drive State-run Emirates Development Bank has launched a solar energy finance programme to support micro, small, and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the UAE to overcome cost barriers. The initiative will allocate AED100 million ($27.22 million) to support the adoption of green energy solutions, focusing on solar energy initiatives, the UAE state-owned Wam news agency reported. The […] September 8, 2023
Analysis Trade Costa Rica sets up UAE for Central America trade Talks to establish a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with Costa Rica could signal a new push by the UAE to strengthen trade ties in Central America. Manuel Tovar Rivera, Costa Rica’s minister of foreign trade, said the proposed Cepa would boost collaboration between the wider Central America and Middle East regions. Experts told AGBI that […] June 9, 2023
Logistics DP World moves to close trade finance gap for SMEs DP World has launched a digital trade finance platform to build relations between small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and financial institutions and boost trade. The platform gives borrowers access to trade finance while helping lenders assess companies by providing data, visibility and transparency on global trade movements. This allows them to analyse potential areas […] April 25, 2023
Banking & Finance Emirates Development Bank loans to SMEs up 387% Emirates Development Bank (EDB) approved a total of AED1.8 billion ($490 million) in loans to small and medium-sized enterprises in 2022 – a year-on-year increase of 387 percent. This consisted of AED1.2 billion of direct financing and AED611 million of indirect financing through EDB’s credit guarantee scheme with partner commercial banks. SMEs make up around […] March 2, 2023
Cop28 Clean energy investment may be hit by economic slowdown The global economic downturn could have serious implications on investment into clean energy and cause climate change targets to be pushed back, experts have warned. Elias Hajj, senior partner at McKinsey & Co, said during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week that an estimated $6 trillion is needed annually to fund the transition to clean energy. But […] January 19, 2023
