IslamicFinance.de

Peer-to-peer lending platform Beehive has released an insightful new report revealing the state of MENA's SME ecosystem. The report is based on a survey of 175 SME owners and senior management and a roundtable of 13 prominent SME founders / CEOs. Key findings from the report include: surveyed MENA SMEs have more women in senior positions than the global average. 28% of respondents see innovation as a priority for growth, yet only 2% of business owners are currently trying to access finance to fund it. SMEs offer young people a great opportunity for development. 48% of SMEs would hire someone under 25 with no experience. The report focused on key areas that impact SMEs such as talent acquisition, innovation and growth factors. The survey results showed positive indicators such as SME appetite for market expansion and the opportunity for women in business.

Beehive, the region’s first regulated peer-to-peer lending platform has funded its first SME in Bahrain. The funding was granted to Bahrain-based Mira Packaging Factory, which manufactures disposable cups in addition to other food packaging solutions for the GCC, and the African F&B industry. Mira Packaging Factory has a large customer base in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the regional neighbouring countries. This includes international airlines, global HORECA brands and local coffee concepts. Beehive CEO Craig Moore confirmed Mira Packaging Factory's eligibility for peer-to-peer finance after Beehive’s thorough credit assessment, which determines the company’s ability to repay the loan and provide excellent returns to its global investors.

Beehive, UAE’s online marketplace for peer-to-peer (P2P) finance, has been certified as a Sharia-compliant P2P finance platform by the Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB). The SRB review was conducted over a period of several weeks in June and July 2015 during which SRB’s Sharia scholars reviewed all operational processes, documentation, and relationship management on Beehive’s Islamic platform. As the first online marketplace for P2P finance in the UAE, Beehive has channelled over AED 15 million ($4m) worth of finance to more than 32 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) since its launch in November 2014. Finance requests on Beehive are processed under a ‘Commodity Murabaha’ structure, using the ‘DMCC Tradeflow’ platform.