Alif will attract $50 million to expand its presence in Uzbekistan

Islamic fintech startup alif announced the issue of Islamic bonds (sukuk) for $50 million, Spot reports with reference to Yahoo Finance.

The company plans to invest the raised funds in the work of its Uzbek subsidiary Alif Moliya. According to her own data, her alif nasiya service accounts for over 35% of the local installment purchase (BNPL) market.

“The sale of the bonds will provide the growth capital Alif Moliya needs to expand its offering in Uzbekistan. This is a new opportunity for investors to join alif’s journey”, – said Alif Capital Holdings Chairman Hafiz Shahidi.

In turn, the head of alif in Uzbekistan, Nuriddin Lafizov, noted the local market’s acceptance of the package of services offered by the startup. He added that he was looking forward to the opportunity to “lead a revolution in Uzbekistan’s financial services sector”.

The startup’s main investor, the British Jefferson Capital, will act as a consultant on the issuance of sukuk bonds. It is expected that the yield of the securities (as a share of profit) will be 12-14% of the value annually.

Alif company was established in Tajikistan in 2014. Since 2019, she entered the Uzbekistan market with her first project, the online marketplace Alif Shop, and a year later launched the alif.mobi payment service and an electronic money system together with Aloqabank.

The head of alif, Abdullo Kurbanov, noted that the team chose Uzbekistan as the first foreign market because of its wide opportunities. With a population and economic size several times larger than Tajikistan, “in many ways we are similar”, – he added.

In 2021, alif raised $8 million from a group of investors led by Jefferson Capital Holdings. The investment round became one of the largest at that time in Central Asia.