Oman Endowment Foundation Launches Maiden Real Estate Initiative: Key Opportunities for Investors and Business Owners in Oman

• By CONRAD PRABHU
• August 10, 2025August 11, 2025
• Investment Partnerships Oman Endowment Foundation Real Estate Development
• With 0 comments

MUSCAT, AUG 10 — In its first significant initiative since its establishment by Royal Decree last November, the Oman Endowment Foundation (OEF) has issued a call for local and international real estate developers to submit their prequalification documents for potential collaborations in developing awqaf properties across the Sultanate of Oman.

Established under Royal Decree No. 28/2024, OEF aims to optimize returns on endowment and Bayt Al-Mal assets through sustainable and innovative investment strategies.

Announcing its inaugural real estate project, the Muscat-based foundation stated: “Aligned with its strategic goals, OEF invites qualified local and international real estate developers, consortiums, and specialized investors to submit prequalification credentials for potential partnership opportunities. This initiative includes select investment lands earmarked for real estate development.”

OEF outlined various partnership and investment models tailored to different project requirements:

• Usufruct or Long-Term Lease Model: Developers receive the right to use endowment land for a specified period without ownership transfer. They bear full responsibility for financing, development, and operation, including all commercial and financial risks. In return, OEF secures a fixed or escalating income, such as annual rent, while maintaining full ownership of the land throughout and after the usufruct period.

• Sweat Equity Model: Developers provide full project funding, technical management, and development expertise, assuming all operational and financial risks in exchange for an equity stake. The land remains under OEF ownership or may be included as an equity contribution if mutually agreed.

• Equity Partnership (Musharakah Model): A joint venture where OEF contributes land as an in-kind share valued at fair market price, and the investor provides cash capital of equal or complementary value. Projects are implemented collaboratively, with profits and losses shared proportionally. Both parties retain strategic decision-making rights, with exit and termination governed by partnership agreements.

OEF emphasized that the initiative targets real estate projects capable of generating substantial returns and societal benefits efficiently. This effort is central to OEF’s long-term vision and strategy for expanding endowment assets. Selected partners will be expected to conduct comprehensive highest-and-best-use analyses and detailed financial assessments for each land parcel during the upcoming Request for Proposal (RFP) phase.

The deadline for submitting prequalification documents is August 24, 2025, with the shortlist of qualified firms to be announced on September 7, 2025.

Special Analysis by Omanet | Navigate Oman’s Market

The Oman Endowment Foundation’s launch of diverse real estate partnership models presents a strategic opportunity for investors and developers to tap into long-term, risk-managed projects anchored by government-backed land assets. Businesses should consider the potential of stable income streams through usufruct leases or equity partnerships, while entrepreneurs can leverage these innovative frameworks to create value in Oman’s growing real estate and investment sectors. Smart investors must analyze each model’s risk-return profile carefully to align with OEF’s sustainable growth vision and secure preferred positioning ahead of the qualification deadline.