The Asian Development Bank has signed two private-sector financing facilities worth a reported US$208.3 million with financial institutions in Türkiye, alongside a separate agreement intended to support trade finance.
The package announced on 13 November is aimed at widening access to longer-term finance for micro and small businesses and supporting leases of cleaner energy and more efficient equipment. One of the loans reserves at least half its proceeds for enterprises owned or led by women.
The agreements were announced during the COP31 climate conference in Antalya. They represent signed financing arrangements, rather than evidence that the full amounts have already reached businesses or that the investments have been completed. The underlying loans had been approved before the conference.
Support for smaller firms
A US$100 million private-sector loan to VakıfBank is intended for micro and small enterprises in less-developed areas, including provinces affected by the 2023 earthquakes. At least 50 per cent of the proceeds are to be lent to businesses that are owned and/or led by women.
For businesses in affected areas, access to longer-term funding can make it possible to plan beyond immediate cash needs. The facility is intended to help firms sustain operations, recover from shocks and invest for growth. Its eventual reach will depend on the lending carried out through VakıfBank; the signing does not identify a number of businesses that have already received support.
The private-sector loan was approved on 28 September as part of an initiative that also includes a separate US$400 million public-sector loan to the same bank. The two loans serve related purposes, but the earlier US$400 million is not included in the US$208.3 million total announced for the private-sector facilities.
Under the separate loan, US$200 million is intended to be lent on to housing developers to support the construction of 4,500 homes in 11 earthquake-affected provinces. The other US$200 million is intended for small and medium-sized businesses in less-developed provinces, especially firms owned by or employing women and those investing in green technology. The housing figure is a planned outcome, not a count of completed homes.
Financing greener equipment
The second private-sector facility is for AkLease, the leasing subsidiary of Akbank. Its US$108.3 million package combines a €50 million loan from the development bank, stated as equivalent to US$58.3 million, with a parallel loan of up to US$50 million from a Japan-financed infrastructure fund administered by the bank.
The financing is intended to expand leasing for clean energy and energy-efficient technology. Leasing provides a way for a business to use an asset through a financing arrangement rather than necessarily paying the full purchase price at the outset. The project covers potential uses across sectors including energy, transport, water and wastewater management, industry, information and communications technology, and health.
The AkLease project was approved on 14 October. It also includes advisory work on environmental and social management, assessing green leases and increasing opportunities for women. Those measures concern how the financing is assessed and managed as it is used; they are not a measurement of emissions savings already achieved.
A separate trade agreement
Akbank also signed an issuing-bank agreement under the development bank’s trade and supply chain finance programme. The arrangement is intended to strengthen support for trade transactions involving Turkish businesses, including smaller firms, and to support Akbank’s sustainable finance framework.
The trade agreement is separate from the two loan facilities. In 2026, the wider programme has supported at least US$600 million in trade transactions involving Turkish companies and signed four issuing-bank agreements with Turkish banks. Those programme-wide figures should not be added to the new US$208.3 million package.
The measures address different financing needs: business lending through VakıfBank, equipment leasing through AkLease and support for trade through Akbank. Their practical impact will depend on the terms of lending and leasing, the businesses that qualify and how the supported investments are put into use.
