Oman Crowdfunding Market Overview
Oman introduced Islamic banking rules in 2013 and is currently among the highest growing markets along with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In 2020, the Oman Islamic finance market grew by 9.5%, according to the FitchRatings report.
Oman conventional and alternative finance market is regulated by Oman Capital Market Authority (CMA) and includes regulations for:
- Sukuk issuance
- Real estate investment funds
- Takaful
- Securities
These are the most relevant rules to the topic of crowdfunding, however, as of 2021, there’s no clear regulations regarding crowdfunding in Oman which makes it a difficult market to consider.
If you’re looking to launch a crowdfunding business in an Islamic country in the MENA region, you should probably focus on Saudi Arabia or the UAE as they have a more developed legislation system for equity crowdfunding and P2P lending.
What you will learn in this post:
Oman’s plans for developing the alternative market
According to the information at Oman Daily Observer, a news website, there were active discussions in 2019 to legalise crowdfunding with the “new security rules”.
“With this new Securities Law, the securities market will serve as platform for small businesses to crowdfund their operations. In effect, a dedicated SME Exchange will be created and brought under the jurisdiction of the CMA.”
– said Mohammed Said al Abri, Vice President — Capital Market Sector, CMA
It was mentioned that the new law will come into effect in the first quarter of 2020. As of now, the rule is supposedly still in progress.
Eureeca showed interest in entering the Oman crowdfunding market
One of the pioneering crowdfunding platforms and market leader, Eureeca, expressed interest to tap into the Oman crowdfunding market. They say, Oman is the next SME ecosystem which has a great potential, so Eureeca wants to fill in the financing gap there through equity crowdfunding.
However, as the Oman crowdfunding regulations are still in progress and there can be potential restrictions, there are no updates on penetrating the crowdfunding market.
Promising industries and trends in Oman that may require financing
When the crowdfunding framework gets more vivid and understandable, the first-line industries that will require alternative financing may include:
- Real estate
- Agriculture
- Food & beverage
- Tourism
- Oil and gas
- Infrastructure
These industries are the core of the Oman economy that crowdfunding platforms are likely to tap into rather quickly. So, if you’re monitoring the Oman crowdfunding market, you should probably keep an eye on these sectors.
Crowdfunding software for launching an investment platform in Oman or elsewhere in the MENA region
LenderKit can be a reliable crowdfunding solution for your investment business in the MENA region. We have experience building crowdfunding platforms for Forus, NEOM, Delta Corp and other big companies.
If you’d like to launch a crowdfunding platform in Oman, Saudi Arabia, or the UAE, check out our solutions.
With LenderKit, you can apply to the regulatory sandbox to get a license, pitch to the board of directors and investors to raise capital using a crowdfunding platform prototype, or build a custom crowdfunding platform for your industry.
