Amwal Capital Partners, an independent alternative investment firm with offices in Dubai and Riyadh, has announced the successful launch and first close of its Shariah-compliant financing fund.
The fund is designed to address the rising demand for ethical, Shariah-compliant financing solutions from investors, and flexible capital for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that remain underserved by the regional banks.
The newly launched $150 million ACP Shariah Financing Fund will provide capital to emerging companies across a range of sectors, with a particular focus on asset-backed solutions for tech-enabled platforms. It will also pursue direct lending opportunities, targeting 12 to 15 transactions over its five-year term, primarily in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Sharif Eid, Partner and Co-Head of Fixed Income at Amwal Capital Partners, said that, “Regional private credit presents a compelling opportunity to deliver equity-like returns through exposures that are uncorrelated to public markets, overcollateralized and well structured. Corporate leverage is also low across the GCC, creating favorable lending dynamics”.
According to the statement, the SME lending in the GCC remains both underserved and underpenetrated, with SME loans comprising under 10 percent of total lending compared to over 20 percent in developed markets. The regional SME credit gap is estimated at $250 billion.
“Private credit represents one of the most structurally attractive opportunities in the region’s financial ecosystem. The SME credit gap highlights a chronic mismatch between capital supply and real economic need. Our fund is purpose-built to address this imbalance through Shariah-compliant financing overlooked by traditional channels,” noted Fadi Arbid, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Amwal Capital Partners.
