Nirdhan to provide collateral free loan to micro-entrepreneurs

National Micro Entrepreneurs Federation Nepal (NMEFEN) and Nirdhan Utthan Bank Limited (NUBL) Thursday signed an agreement to provide access to finance for micro-entrepreneurs.

According to the MoU, the NUBL will provide collateral free loan of up to Rs. 300,000 to the micro-entrepreneurs promoted by Micro Enterprise Development Programme (MEDEP) and government’s Micro Enterprise Development for Poverty Alleviation (MEDPA) programme.

The bank will also provide loans to other entrepreneurs requiring higher amount.

NMEFEN chairperson Lakpa Lama and chief executive officer of NUBL Janardan Dev Pant signed the agreement.

Over 40 thousand micro-entrepreneurs from 52 districts, mostly from hill and mountain, are expected to benefit from the deal.

After signing the MoU, Lama said that access to finance was major obstacle for micro-entrepreneurs who operate business in remote and rural areas. He hoped that this agreement would help entrepreneurs to overcome the obstacle.

Pant said as NUBL’s main goal was to contribute to poverty reduction by providing access to financial services to the rural and poor people, the bank would provide loan to rural entrepreneurs on priority basis. 

NMEFEN is the umbrella organization of over ninety thousand micro-ntrepreneurs. It has member organizations – the District Micro Entrepreneurs Groups Associations (DMEGA) in 50 districts which will facilitate in identifying potential micro entrepreneurs who require access to finance.

NirdhanUtthan Bank is a leading micro finance institution in the country with its network in 75 districts.