UK impact investor and development finance institution British International Investment (BII) has partnered with Nepal’s Laxmi Sunrise Bank (LSL) to provide a $25 million credit facility aimed at expanding financing access for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), particularly women-led businesses.
The facility will support lending to underserved MSMEs in Nepal, where limited access to formal financing continues to constrain business growth.
MSMEs contribute around 22% of Nepal’s GDP and employ nearly 2 million people, but only 16% have access to financing through formal channels, according to World Bank and Nepal Rastra Bank data.
Under the partnership, about 30% of the facility is expected to support women-led MSMEs. The initiative is also expected to promote entrepreneurship, job creation, and broader private sector growth in the country.
Laxmi Sunrise Bank has qualified for the 2X Challenge, a global initiative focused on advancing women’s economic empowerment. BII said its technical assistance programme, Invest for Impact Nepal (IIN), has supported the bank in strengthening financing programmes for women-owned and women-led businesses.
Srini Nagarajan, managing director and head of Asia at BII, said Nepal remains an important market within the institution’s frontier markets strategy.
“By partnering with Laxmi Sunrise Bank, we are backing a leading financial institution with the reach and ambition to support underserved businesses across Nepal, where getting access to financing is challenging but critical for the private sector to grow,” he said.
Sumed Bhattarai, officiating chief executive officer of Laxmi Sunrise Bank, said the partnership would help narrow financing gaps faced by MSMEs, especially women-led enterprises, adding that the $25 million facility would enable the bank to “bridge that gap meaningfully.”
The Nepal financing initiative comes shortly after BII partnered with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners to launch North Star, a $300 million platform focused on renewable energy investments in India, underscoring the UK development finance institution’s broader push across frontier and emerging Asian markets.
Laxmi Sunrise Bank operates 254 branches and 327 ATMs across Nepal, alongside its digital banking services. The bank plays an active role in channelling credit to individuals, businesses, and enterprises, supporting Nepal’s private sector development.
BII currently has investments in more than 1,600 businesses across 66 countries, with total net assets accounting for £9.87 billion (around $13.2 billion). The institution has said that at least 40% of its total new commitments between 2026 and 2031 will be allocated to climate finance.
