Business Link Pacific partners up with the Development Bank of Solomon Islands to help SMEs with access to finance and business advisory services

Under the Business Link Pacific (BLP) Finance Facility, we are pleased to announce a new partnership with the Development Bank of Solomon Islands (DBSI), which will support the growth and recovery of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Solomon Islands. 

Working with us in this new partnership, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) is investing 400K NZD, which will be made available under the concessional loans programme run by the new partnership. The DBSI is matching NZ’s investment to provide a total of 800K NZD in loans to SMEs. 

In addition, SMEs will also benefit from subsidised business advisory services through BLP approved providers, with DBSI matching BLP’s subsidy of 50%. This means that DBSI SME customers will have access to 100% subsidised business advisory services when applying for loans with DBSI. 

The first loan recipient under the partnership is business owner Anga Samani and Operations Manager James Longobaea, who applied for a BLP Business Adaptation Grant earlier this year to support the adaptation plan of their business ADS Quality Furniture (ADS). ADS saw the opportunity to diversify its activity to include hardwood milling to supply local and international buyers as well as their own furniture business. ADS presented to BLP a business plan with the potential to create new employment by 2022. The plan also included investment in compliance with environmental sustainability targets and regulations under the COP26. 

ADS used its 85k SBD grant to access a business loan of 101k SBD from DBSI and through the concessional lending programme, supported by CBSI under the Solomon Islands government loan guarantee scheme.

BLP hopes that this new partnership will allow more SMEs like ADS to access in-country business advisory services in key areas such as financial management, information technology, continuity planning and e-commerce in order to bounce back from the pandemic. 

A new financial product by DBSI will also be rolled out at a reduced interest rate of 8% per annum, (down from 13% per annum) with a maximum loan tenor of 60 months, with a focus on rural enterprises and other under-served groups. 

We know SMEs have long-standing problems in accessing financial services due to both demand and supply-side factors, overlain by significant gender-related issues. These problems have become more acute since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.

It is our hope that by partnering with financial institutions, such as DBSI, that we will be able to break down some of those barriers, supporting businesses to rebuild better with the right finance and affordable business advice,” says Steve Knapp, Director of BLP.

This new partnership will mean SMEs in the Solomon Islands have access to concessional loans at low-interest rates, as well as opportunities to access 100% subsidised business advisory services through our network of providers and local representatives,” says Knapp. DBSI has also committed to matching BLPs 50% contribution under the subsidy scheme resulting in a 100% subsidy for DBSI loan applicants, a first under the BLP programme.

SMEs face a range of challenges in accessing finance such as high illiteracy rates, a majority of land holdings in rural areas being held in customary title, lack of financial accounts, and the non-existence of concessional interest rates, among others,” says DBSI CEO Nafitalai.

Nafi hopes that the “new partnership with BLP will open up more access to finance for SMEs as well as a range of other benefits such as reaching marginalized groups and farming communities in rural areas, leveraging the CBSI guarantee scheme, increasing aggregate demand in the economy during these tough economic times brought on by COVID-19 and improving literacy and all round business acumen for small business operators”. 

Since BLP was established in 2017, it has assisted over 5,500 small-medium sized businesses with online Business Health Checks, Business Continuity Plans and in-depth diagnostics. In addition to this, it has facilitated 765 business advisory services subsidies and contributed to the creation of an estimated 890 new jobs; 49% of which are filled by women. 

BLP has various in-country partners in the Solomon Islands offering face to face consultations, business diagnostics and business advisory services referrals that can support loan applications and provide financial advice. For more information about BLP and the Pacific SME Finance Facility, businesses can send an enquiry to: [email protected] 

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For more information about the programme or to arrange an interview contact: Sandra Mendez, Head of Communications and Impact for Business Link Pacific on s[email protected] 

About Business Link Pacific: 

BLP is a private sector development programme funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and aimed at supporting the economic growth of Pacific Island countries. 

The Business Link Pacific team is based in Auckland, New Zealand and is currently supported by in-country partners in Cook Islands, Kiribati, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. 

The over 110 business advisory firms members of the Business Link Pacific Advisor Network have helped to create new products, supported many digital transformations, and helped many businesses through a variety of crises, including the onset of COVID-19, increasing economic growth across the Pacific Islands. 

Case studies and stories about the business talent in the PICs have been captured and shared with the Business Link Pacific audience both in New Zealand and across the Pacific Region, and can be accessed via the Business Link Pacific website.