Kathmandu, December 12 : Machhapuchchhre Bank Limited (MBL), UKaidSakchyam Access to Finance Programme (Sakchyam) and Heifer international Nepal have signed an agreement with an aim to provide simplified micro-credit services to the unserved and underserved population of fourteen districts across Nepal.
CEO of MBL, Suman Sharma, Team Leader of Sakchyam, Nirmal Dahal and Country Director of Heifer International Nepal, Shubh N. Mahato along with other representatives from MBL, Sakchyamand Heifer International Nepal inked the deal on behalf of their respective organisations during a function held in the capital.
Through the ‘Simplified Financial Services for Economic Empowerment of Women’ project, the MBL, in strategic alliance with UKaidSakchyam and Heifer International Nepal, will expand access to finance for women entrepreneurs’ and farmers in order to enhance their economic condition.
During the program, Sharma said that ‘through this strategic alliance, bank will cater to the financial requirement of rural farmers’,small and medium enterprises, other value chain actors and underprivileged group in 14 districts in order to enhance their livelihood. The aim of the project is to reach to more than 4,300 farmers, provide saving accounts to more than 3,000 beneficiary, initiate financial literacy and awareness, maximize Branchless Banking (BLB) and introduce innovative credit assessment and delivery tools in form of Kishan Credit Card (KCC).
Machhapuchchhre Bank is providing world class service all over Nepal from 86 branches, 2 extension counters and 39 branchless banking units. Bank has 107 ATM network spread all over the country.
Sakchyam is aUKaid-funded access to finance programme. It is being implemented by Louis Berger for DFID Nepal, in partnership with local and international institutions.
Heifer International is working in Nepal as a sustainable development non-profit leader in smallholder agriculture. Till date, Heifer has supported more than 250,000 poor and vulnerable families in 41 districts of Nepal. Currently, Heifer has been working towards increasing access to finance for 226 women’s cooperatives in partnership with various banks and financial institutions in Nepal.
