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The Dubai-based family office has announced plans to invest $8.8 billion in the Maldives to build a financial hub for “blockchain and digital assets.”
Family Office MBS Global Investments’ five-year planned investment exceeds Maldives’ annual GDP of around $7 billion, but Finance Minister Moosa Zameer said the country needs to “jump” to diversify from tourism and fishing.
Zameer said the debt scheduled for the next two years was “the biggest challenge we have.” Talking to the Financial Times in a video interview, he added that the deal is “what we see as a potential contributor to pull us out of the specific difficulties we are in.”
MBS, which manages assets worth around $14 billion, is the family office of wealthy Qatar Sheikknife Vinh Aid Alti. It plans to fund Maldives investments by tapping family offices and networks of wealthy individuals to form a consortium.
Nadeem Hussain, CEO of MBS, said the phased projects could be funded through equities and debt, and its solid commitment is already set aside from $4 billion to $5 billion “north”.
“We welcomed what was involved in fundraising from the offset, and brought in the necessary alliances and the partners we needed to ensure that,” Hussein said. “That’s a lot of money.”
MBS and the Maldives government signed a joint venture agreement on the project on Sunday.
According to Project MasterPlan, Maldives International Financial Center will be an 830,000 square metre hub that hosts 6,500 people and can offer 16,000 jobs at Capital Male.
“Finance Freesone, a global blockchain and digital assets,” aims to triple the Maldives’ GDP within four years, generating revenues of “well over $1 billion by the fifth year.”
The announced investment comes months after India announced a $760 million bailout to stop the default of sovereignty.
In December, rating agency Moody’s prominent Maldives’ “external liquidity pressures remained increased in view of substantial external debt obligations,” including $500 million in debt, including a form of Islamic stricture on interest, including $600 million to $700 million this year and about $1 billion in 2026.
Zameer acknowledged the role India and China played as “development partners” to their countries, but said that financial centre transactions provided a new model.
“As MBS is starting a business, it will be a completely different business from the traditional borrowing model we are doing,” the Finance Minister said.
The advantages of the archipelago include political stability, good connectivity and proximity to large markets such as India and the Gulf countries. However, one senior Indian businessman said it would be “not easy” for Male to become a regional financial centre, especially given his competition from established hubs such as Dubai and Mauritius.
