Dubai’s Zamanat brings GCC private credit on-chain with $100M tokenized fund targeting underserved SMEs
Dubai-based Zamanat has announced its sponsorship of Zamanat Fund CEIC Limited, a DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre) domiciled tokenized private credit fund with a target size of up to $100 million, according to information shared with Finbold on September 10, 2026. The fund targets a structural gap estimated at $250 billion, the amount of SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) financing demand across the GCC that goes unmet by traditional lenders. Despite contributing more than half of GDP in the UAE and employing the majority of the private-sector workforce, SMEs in the region receive less than 10% of total bank lending. Across the broader GCC, only around 11% of SMEs have access to any credit at all. “Strong businesses across the GCC still struggle to access growth capital despite sound fundamentals. Zamanat sponsored the Fund to create a credible route between those businesses and institutional capital. With a target size of up to USD 100 million and in...