EBRD Lends $50M to Uzbekistan for Youth-Led Businesses

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will extend a loan of up to $50 million to Uzbekistan's O'zsanoatqurilishbank (SQB), channeling credit to micro, small, and medium enterprises owned or managed by entrepreneurs under the age of 35 — a demographic that accounts for more than 61% of Uzbekistan's total population, according to United Nations data.

The financing is being deployed under the EBRD's Youth in Business (YiB) program for Central Asia, designed to widen access to credit for young-led businesses that frequently struggle to meet the collateral and credit history requirements of conventional bank lending. Funds will be available in both U.S. dollars and synthetic Uzbek soums, giving borrowers flexibility in managing currency exposure.

A Demographic Imperative

The scale of Uzbekistan's youth bulge gives the program an outsized strategic rationale. With nearly two-thirds of the population below 35, the country faces a sustained challenge of generating sufficient employment and entrepreneurial opportunity to absorb a large and growing working-age cohort. The EBRD has identified youth business development as a key priority precisely because of that demographic pressure and its direct link to job creation and broader economic activity.

$6.9 Billion and Counting

The SQB transaction adds to an already substantial EBRD footprint in Uzbekistan. The bank's cumulative investment in the country now stands at nearly $6.9 billion across 210 projects, with the majority directed at private sector support. For the sixth consecutive year, Uzbekistan remains the largest recipient of EBRD financing in Central Asia — a distinction that reflects both the country's reform momentum and the bank's confidence in its trajectory.

The YiB program represents a targeted bet on the next generation of that private sector, using SQB as the on-the-ground delivery mechanism to reach young entrepreneurs who might otherwise remain outside the formal credit system.