Standard Chartered backs Uzbek SME lending with €160M Islamic facility
What's the deal? Standard Chartered has arranged €160.4 million in Islamic financing for AgrobankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, one of Uzbekistan's largest banks, to fund Sharia-compliant lending to retail customers and small and medium-sized enterprises. The facility is backed by the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), part of the Islamic Development BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, with SMBC GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → also participating.
What's the endgame? Agrobank will on-lend the proceeds through its electronic marketplace platforms, with subsidiary Smart Bank acting as operational agent for Islamic products. The goal is to broaden access to finance for SMEs across sectors, supporting job creation and financial inclusion.
Why now? The deal marks the first Murabaha structure in Uzbekistan for Standard Chartered, SMBC Group, and ICIEC. It is Standard Chartered's third transaction with Agrobank and builds on seven projects the bank has supported in the country, including Uzbekistan's largest-ever bond issuance in June 2024.
Officials signed the agreement on January 28, 2025 in Tashkent, with Agrobank chairman Rustam Mamatkulov and Standard Chartered UK chief executive Saif Malik in attendance.
By the numbers: At roughly €160 million, the facility ranks among the larger deals in its market — placing in the 63rd percentile by amount. It stands out less as a conventional funding round than as a sizable, institution-backed channel for a financing route still new to Uzbekistan.
Desislava Radeva, executive director of development and agency finance at Standard Chartered, said the bank was "proud to play our part, through Islamic Finance, in driving financial inclusivity, economic growth and prosperity" for the sector, adding that the deal "paves the way for future collaboration in Uzbekistan."
The signal: The facility is an early, large-scale test of Islamic finance in a market working to widen SME access to capital. It is part of a broader push — Standard Chartered followed with a €114 million MIGADealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →-backed loan to the National Bank of UzbekistanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → in May 2025 — while rising institutional interest points to Sharia-compliant lending becoming a durable funding channel for Uzbek businesses.
Read more: europesays.com
Image credit: Arian Zwegers
