Week ending 4 October 2026: Fina formally launches SAR 500m Saudi SME fund

Fina, the business to business embedded finance arm of SILQ, formally announced the Fina Fund on 1 October 2026. The SAR 500 million fund is managed by Riyadh based Joa Capital under a licence from the Saudi Capital Market Authority, aimed at corporate finance and liquidity across Saudi business to business commerce.

Mohammed Aldossary, Co Founder and CEO of SILQ, said the fund connects Joa Capital’s credit investment management capabilities with Fina’s technology and data infrastructure. Yousef AlYousefi, CEO and Managing Partner of Joa Capital, said the structure is designed to deliver liquidity integrated into everyday business operations. Fina’s underlying platform has already facilitated more than SAR 2 billion in trade liquidity, and the fund is aimed at Saudi Arabia’s estimated SAR 400 billion SME financing gap.

Do this. Saudi SMEs working across procurement, supplier payment and receivables chains should ask their platform providers whether Fina’s financing is now available to them. Capital built directly into the transaction, rather than requiring a separate loan application, tends to move faster.

Riyadh based erad raised a USD 22 million Series A on 29 September 2026, led by MEVP with Saudi Venture Capital, 500 Global, S60 Ventures, ANB Capital, Conjunction Capital and Araya Ventures, alongside returning backers including Khwarizmi, Nuwa Capital, Aljazira Capital, Oraseya and Joa Capital.

erad provides Sharia compliant working capital to SMEs in capital intensive sectors such as logistics, medical equipment and wholesale distribution, using AI based risk assessment to approve clients in roughly 48 hours. Salem Abu Hammour, Co Founder of erad, and Jad EL Boustani, Partner at MEVP, confirmed the round will fund expansion beyond Saudi Arabia into the wider GCC. The company has already provided more than USD 133 million in financing, growing eightfold year on year, with 85 percent of clients expanding their financing within the first year.

Do this. SMEs in logistics, medical equipment and wholesale distribution that find bank underwriting too slow for working capital needs should look at erad’s approval timeline directly against their own cash conversion cycle.

The Central Bank of the UAE and the Central Bank of Egypt renewed their AED 5 billion currency swap agreement for a further five years in late September 2026. The stated aim is to facilitate bilateral trade and investment and to expand local currency settlement between the two countries.

UAE Egypt bilateral trade reached approximately USD 9.7 billion in 2025, up nearly 62 percent year on year. Deeper AED EGP settlement infrastructure can reduce dependence on a third currency for importers, distributors and food businesses trading in this corridor.

Do this. UAE importers and distributors sourcing from Egypt should ask their banks whether settlement can now run through the renewed swap line rather than a US dollar intermediary, which can shorten payment cycles and reduce FX cost.

Credit Oman introduced a new advance payment insurance policy on 3 October 2026, covering Omani companies that pay international suppliers upfront for goods, machinery, equipment and production related services before delivery.

Haitham bin Abdullah Al Yaqoubi, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Credit Oman, said the policy helps companies manage the commercial risks associated with international procurement, including a supplier’s failure to deliver or to return an advance payment. Credit Oman had approved credit ceilings of approximately USD 588 million for domestic sales and exports by mid 2026.

Do this. Omani manufacturers that pay upfront for production lines, raw materials or equipment from overseas suppliers should ask Credit Oman whether this new policy line now covers their next procurement contract before they commit the advance payment.

Kuwait’s amended Public Tenders Law took effect in late September 2026, raising the threshold at which government entities can award contracts without Central Agency for Public Tenders approval to KD 1 million, and KD 20 million for Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. The amendment also restructures the Central Agency’s board into seven members serving non renewable four year terms.

The law gives preferential consideration to SME bids that meet specification and price within 10 percent of the lowest acceptable bid, reserves up to 10 percent of local contracting work for qualifying SMEs, and requires foreign contractors to assign at least 30 percent of their work to local contractors, with SME participation built into that share.

Do this. Kuwaiti SMEs bidding into government and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation contracts should review their qualification category now. The new preferential pricing band and local contracting share change the economics of bidding even without a lower headline price.

LNG shipments through the Strait of Hormuz reached their highest monthly level since the conflict began in February 2026. S&P Global Commodity Insights counted 19 cargoes in September, up from 15 in June, while Kpler counted 21, also up from 15. Eric Yep, Senior Principal Analyst at S&P Global, said that if the pace seen in the second half of September continues into October, full month transits could recover to around a quarter of levels seen before the conflict.

Crude flows have recovered further. Gulf crude exports through Hormuz reached approximately 16.3 million barrels per day in September, the highest since the conflict began, against roughly 19.5 million barrels per day in February, with Saudi Arabia’s own exports through the Strait rising from 2.45 million barrels a day in August to about 5.4 million in September. Alternative routing and ship to ship transfers have reduced reliance on the Strait itself, though insurance, freight and security costs around Gulf shipping remain elevated.

Do this. Trade finance providers and SME importers and exporters moving physical goods through the Gulf should keep tracking Hormuz traffic alongside freight and insurance quotes separately. A recovering transit count does not yet mean a recovering cost base.