BankDhofar Empowers SMEs Through Landmark Nurturing Program
BankDhofar has launched a flagship SME Nurturing Programme called Numo SME Development program aims at strengthening the financial, managerial and governance capabilities of Omani enterprises and supporting their long-term sustainability.
Developed in collaboration with the College of Banking and Financial Studies (CBFS), the initiative provides structured financial literacy and business-development support to entrepreneurs, complementing BankDhofar’s growing portfolio of financing, digital banking and advisory solutions for the SME sector.
Encompassing businesses across the entrepreneurial spectrum — from start-ups and micro-enterprises to small and medium-sized businesses with ambitions to scale — the program reflects a broader shift in the bank’s SME strategy from primarily providing finance towards nurturing sustainable businesses.
Participants will continue benefiting from structured learning, mentoring and ongoing support covering areas such as financial management, cash-flow planning, governance and business resilience. The program is designed to equip entrepreneurs with practical capabilities that can help them navigate different stages of business development and build stronger foundations for sustainable growth.
The initiative also represents an important element of BankDhofar’s wider corporate social responsibility agenda, reflecting the bank’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurship as a national economic priority. By investing in entrepreneurial capabilities alongside access to finance, the program seeks to help SMEs become more productive, competitive and resilient contributors to the economy.
It builds on BankDhofar’s increasingly comprehensive SME ecosystem, centered on Numo SME Banking, its dedicated proposition serving businesses from start-up through scale-up. Numo combines financing with digital banking, payment and POS solutions, payroll services, business cards and other specialized services.
The bank has progressively widened this ecosystem through partnerships and entrepreneur engagement. In April 2026, it signed an agreement with the SME Development Authority to expand access to financing and integrated banking services, while SME forums organized under the Numo platform have provided entrepreneurs with guidance on areas ranging from digital marketing and brand development to business expansion.
The new nurturing program adds a potentially distinctive dimension to this proposition by addressing not only entrepreneurs’ financing and transactional requirements, but also the knowledge and management capabilities essential to business longevity.
The initiative aligns closely with Oman Vision 2040, which places entrepreneurship, private-sector development and SMEs at the heart of economic diversification. By helping businesses strengthen their financial discipline, governance and capacity to grow, BankDhofar aims to enable SMEs to play a greater role in productive sectors, employment creation and the Sultanate’s wider economic transformation.
