- Secured half a billion dirhams in sales for projects funded by Khalifa Fund and fall under their membership programme.
Abu Dhabi: Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development have officially 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, Acting CEO of Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, 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 AED66.77 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.
Al Nasri added: “Khalifa Fund postponed 722 loans for 254 projects, with a limit on 3 postponements per project, and a total of AED11.4 million, which granted vulnerable projects a grace period between 6 and 12 months.
Khalifa Fund also emphasized the importance of digitalization for SMEs to overcome the challenges presented by COVID-19 as well as developing alternate marketing and promotional channels for their businesses by forming partnerships with some of the biggest e-commerce companies locally and internationally for the benefit of SMEs.
We achieved this by implementing a digital-heavy strategy, which comprised of launching the e-Empower initiative alongside Amazon, noon.com and Akshaak; partnering with Facebook to deliver She Means Business, an entrepreneurial education programme that taught over 1,300 women; and the phase one reveal of the SME Rating, a digital classification system that provides a comprehensive overview of the logistics, operations and overall performance of SMEs.”
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. The total amount of international loans and grants managed by Khalifa Fund since the start of the International Affairs Programme reached up to 3.4 billion dirhams, across around 400 thousand projects; resulting in a major contribution towards creating about 680,000 job opportunities in the countries within programme.
For access to the full report and it’s entailing statistics, please visit khalifafund.ae.
-Ends-
About Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development
Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development was established in 2007, by the virtue of the Law 14 of 2005 and its amendments, in the implementation of the vision of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi. The Khalifa Fund works as an independent, not-for-profit economic development agency of the Government of Abu Dhabi for the development and support of small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs).
The Fund helps to develop local enterprises in Abu Dhabi through instilling and enriching an investment culture amongst UAE nationals. The Fund also seeks to support and develop SMEs in the Emirate.
Khalifa Fund was founded in 2007 with a total capital of AED 300 million, which gradually increased in 2008 to AED 1 billion, in order to meet the growing demand for the Fund’s services. In 2011, the Fund’s total capital was increase to AED 2 billion, and the Fund covered all of the UAE through a network of branches.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Cameron Hurrion
KBS Strategies
cameron@kbsstrategies.ae
© Press Release 2021
Disclaimer: The contents of this press release was provided from an external third party provider. This website is not responsible for, and does not control, such external content. This content is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and has not been edited in any way. Neither this website nor our affiliates guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions expressed in this press release.
The press release is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Neither this website nor our affiliates shall be liable for any errors or inaccuracies in the content, or for any actions taken by you in reliance thereon. You expressly agree that your use of the information within this article is at your sole risk.
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, this website, its parent company, its subsidiaries, its affiliates and the respective shareholders, directors, officers, employees, agents, advertisers, content providers and licensors will not be liable (jointly or severally) to you for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, incidental, punitive or exemplary damages, including without limitation, lost profits, lost savings and lost revenues, whether in negligence, tort, contract or any other theory of liability, even if the parties have been advised of the possibility or could have foreseen any such damages.
