The Rabaul District Administration has recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the East New Britain Savings & Loans (ENBSL) for the districts’ micro- finance credit facility program.

The credit facility creation is a strategic development program aimed to provide financial assistance to local SMES and support women and youth entrepreneurship at the community level.

This program initiated by the district commerce sector was allocated K500, 000 under the District Services Improvement Program (DSIP) funding with K450, 000 for the micro credit facility creation and K50, 000 for the administration of the program. 

The MOA outlines the conditions & terms of the agreement and how ENBSL is expected to rollout the program. 

There are three loan categories which includes, K500-K1000 range, K1001-K3000, and K3001-K5000. 

Requirements for SME’s include business plan and cash flow, 30% equity, technical certificate (TVET/Financial Literacy certificate), K50 (Local Level Government (LLG) registration, Ward Development Committee recommendation and Respective LLG Manager with LLG Business Development Officer endorsement.

For the second & third category, meeting minutes for SME groups and Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) registration is required. 

Speaking during the signing of the MOA at the districts’ headquarter this week was the Manager- Member Service & Branch Support Lopa Alua who thanked the Rabaul District Development Authority (DDA) and the district administration for having the trust in ENBSL and partnering with them.

“This is our first shared commitment in fostering financial empowerment to our people at the ward levels in Rabaul district and we aim to provide full banking services to our economically challenged individuals, farmers, SMEs, etc. to help their business grow and improve livelihoods.”

Meantime, Rabaul district Administrator Freddy Lemeki thanked ENBSL for the partnership and said the credit facility program will enable SME’s, women’s and youths who lack proper financial assistance expand their growth.

He further urged those who were willing to apply to meet all the requirements and encouraged them to have a business operation plan in place to sustain their SMEs.

Public servants and registered businesses/companies are not allowed to apply for the micro-credit facility program.