Emirates Development Bank approves AED 6.1 billion in financing during 2022

Emirates Development Bank (EDB), a key financial engine for the economic development and industrial advancement of the UAE, conducted a board meeting to review its results for the period ending 31st December 2022.

The Board discussed the bank’s milestone achievements over the course of the year, in addition to its ambitions for 2023 as the bank continues to support and empower the UAE’s industrial development and economic competitiveness.

The Board meeting was chaired by Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and Chairman of Emirates Development Bank.

Among the major achievements of the Bank over the fiscal year (FY) 2022 was the approval of AED 6.1 billion in loans, representing a 673 percent increase over the previous year and 34 percent increase over previous quarter.

A total of AED 1.8 billion in loans was approved to SMEs for FY 2022, representing a 387 precent increase over FY 2021 and a 45 percent increase over previous quarter. This comprised AED 1.2 billion of direct financing and AED 611 million of indirect financing through EDB’s credit guarantee scheme with partner commercial banks. Loans disbursed via the EDB micro-lending platform powered by beehive surpassed the AED 100 million threshold. Since the launch of the EDB business banking app in 2021, a total of 2,094 customers were on boarded.

A total of AED 4.3 billion in loans was approved for Large Corporates, representing a 1,640 percent increase over FY 2021 and a 39 percent increase over the previous quarter. EDB’s Large Corporates division has been supporting the UAE’s national priority sectors with large projects in key areas including data centres, water desalination plants, transportation, hospitals, manufacturers, specialised logistics, among others.

The UAE’s industrial strategy aims to develop the UAE’s industrial sector and enhance its role in stimulating the national economy by raising the industrial sector’s contribution to the GDP to AED 300 billion by 2031.

Ensuring alignment with the nation’s objectives, EDB provides direct and indirect financing to UAE-domiciled businesses or projects that touch on any of its five priority sectors including manufacturing, infrastructure, advanced technology, food security, and healthcare.

The Bank also supports entrepreneurs and start-ups with non-financial services such as the provision of training and advisory programmes on building credit worthiness. As such, EDB’s lending decisions are partially informed by its proprietary developmental impact scorecard which ensures that businesses and projects selected for financing carry the desired impact on the UAE economy, on a scale of 0 to 6.

For 2022, the average score was 3.6, exceeding the Bank’s target of 3.0 and thereby ensuring that the potential developmental impact of financing in 2022 is increasingly in line with the Bank’s aspirations. As testament, EDB's financing activities in 2022 resulted in AED 3.5 billion non-oil GDP impact and over 12,000 industrial jobs created.

Dr. Al Jaber said,

“In line with the leadership’s vision to support the nation’s sustainable economic development, Emirates Development Bank plays a pivotal role in supporting the national industrial sector by facilitating the adoption of advanced technology, enabling the growth of SMEs, and cultivating an ecosystem for innovation. This is in line with the national developmental goals of the UAE to ensure sustainable growth and diversification of the economy.

"In 2022, EDB’s financing activities to businesses and projects of strategic importance to the nation’s priority sectors resulted in an AED 3.5 billion contribution to the UAE’s non-oil GDP and the creation of over 12,000 industrial jobs, reflecting the bank’s extensive progress in executing its strategy. Looking ahead, EDB remains confident in its purpose and ability to play a strategic role in supporting the industrialisation and development of a sustainable, and knowledge-based economy for the UAE.”

Ahmed Mohamed Al Naqbi, Chief Executive Officer of EDB, commented,

“I am exceptionally proud of EDB’s stellar performance in 2022. The Bank’s growing financing activities, product suite, and advisory capabilities for mSMEs and Large Corporates have enabled it to achieve record levels of loans approved, GDP contribution, and job creation.

"As we look to 2023, we will build on this momentum. We are well positioned to further drive our developmental mandate, enhance the Bank’s financial offerings across our five strategic sectors, and continue contributing to the economic competitiveness of our nation.”

News Source: Emirates News Agency