The governments of Germany and Nepal have agreed on the allocation of EUR 6 million to be on lent through the central bank of Nepal (the Nepal Rastra Bank) to two selected partner financial institutions. The selected partner financial institutions will utilise these funds to provide local currency loans to rural and semi-urban MSMEs in Nepal, promoting access to finance for this segment.

In order to identify fitting financial institution partners, the German development bank KfW contracted IPC to identify and conduct due diligence on several Nepali financial institutions.

To do this, IPC prepared a request for proposals to invite expressions of interest from potential partner financial institutions, assessed potential partners based on their finances and potential risks and shortlisted six potential partners. Finally, IPC conducted a comprehensive on-site due diligence of these partners, ultimately providing recommendations to KfW and the Nepal Rastra Bank regarding the selection of final partner financial institutions.