Saudi Blockchain Firm Oumla Partners with CIBAFI for Islamic Finance

Saudi Arabian based Oumla, a digital asset and blockchain infrastructure provider, has signed a strategic partnership with the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI), aimed at accelerating digital innovation and modern technology adoption across the Islamic finance sector.

As per the LinkedIn post, the partnership will focus on developing digital financial infrastructure, blockchain and distributed ledger technologies, applied research, knowledge exchange,  and will include training programs and capacity building activities. It also opens the door for both entities to explore the role of tokenization, smart contracts and compliant digital asset infrastructure in Islamic capital markets, liquidity management and institutional financial services.

CIBAFI is an international non-profit organization that serves as the global umbrella body for Islamic financial institutions. Established in Bahrain in 2001 through an initiative by the Islamic Development Bank and several leading Islamic financial institutions, CIBAFI is affiliated with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and represents more than 140 members across over 30 jurisdictions.

The organization works to represent and advocate for the Islamic financial services industry, promote sustainable growth and innovation, support research and knowledge development, and provide professional training and capacity-building programs for Islamic banks and financial institutions.

For Oumla, the agreement builds on a series of blockchain milestones in Saudi Arabia. Oumla partnered with Avalanche to create Saudi Arabia’s first Layer 1 blockchain fully hosted in KSA. The collaboration was aimed at supporting startups and SMEs, while driving technological innovation across Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region.

Earlier this year, Oumla signed an innovation agreement with Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB Bank) to explore blockchain technology and its applications in financial innovation. That collaboration later resulted in SAB announcing the world’s first Islamic Repo on blockchain in partnership with Oumla.

The blockchain-enabled Islamic Repo allowed SAB Bank to lend to other banks in compliance with Islamic finance principles, using blockchain to make the process faster, safer and more transparent. According to Oumla, the solution replaces paperwork and manual steps with smart digital contracts, ensures transactions are securely and immutably recorded, and helps banks manage assets and liquidity with reduced risk.

Oumla has since executed nine Islamic repo transactions using blockchain technology, with a total value exceeding SAR 110 million ( $29.4 million) and participation from five Saudi banks. The transactions demonstrate how blockchain can support Shariah-compliant treasury workflows, same-day settlement and clearer visibility across the transaction lifecycle.

The Saudi company has also raised funding to expand its digital asset infrastructure. In September 2025, Oumla received $2.4 million in seed funding led by Core Vision, with participation from Avalanche and angel investors. Oumla extended its seed round with participation from Wa’ed Ventures, Sanabil 500, KAUST Innovation Ventures and Plus VC.

As per the earlier announcement, the funding is being used to accelerate Oumla’s infrastructure, including secure key management, wallet and transaction operations, and governance controls designed for corporate and public sector environments. It also supports the deployment of private blockchain networks hosted and operated inside Saudi Arabia, aligning with data localization and operational sovereignty requirements.

The new CIBAFI partnership places Oumla’s blockchain infrastructure within a broader Islamic finance context. By working with an international standards and advocacy body for Islamic financial institutions, Oumla can help bring blockchain-based settlement, tokenization and digital asset infrastructure closer to banks and institutions seeking compliant innovation.

The agreement also comes as Saudi Arabia continues to witness growth in blockchain and emerging technology activity.

With CIBAFI’s international Islamic finance network and Oumla’s Saudi-built blockchain infrastructure, the partnership could support the development of more efficient, transparent and scalable financial applications for Islamic finance institutions across the region and beyond.