Citi Sri Lanka, CCC Solutions, NDB Bank announce plan to support aspiring micro entrepreneurs

From left: NDB Director/CEO Rajendra Theagarajah, Citi Sri Lanka Country Officer Ravin Basnayake, CCC Solutions Managing Director and CEO Chandula Abeywickrema and NDB AVP Network Management Delrene Seneviratne 

More than 200 micro entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka stand to benefit from a program that aims to improve their financial and business capabilities. The Citi CCCS Rural Economic Empowerment Program launched yesterday seeks to help micro entrepreneurs by enabling capacity building through financial literacy and development of entrepreneurship skills. The initiative spearheaded by Citi Sri Lanka, CCC Solutions, a subsidiary of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, and the National Development Bank will also facilitate microcredit assistance, as well as asset creation through savings and insurance. 

The program will be launched in the rural areas of Dadayamkanda, Embilipitiya and Thambuthegama and is expected to be rolled out over a period of two years. Citi in collaboration with CCCS and NDB will identify the potential agricultural based micro level entrepreneurs for participation in the program. CCCS will undertake to facilitate the program in building capacity on entrepreneurship, financial education, technical expertise on agriculture, as well as create market linkage with other partners for the products and services of the entrepreneurs. 

Citi will provide overall direction for the program and staff will play an active role as volunteers to impart basic financial literacy to the participants. NDB’s role will be to evaluate the potential entrepreneurs based on the bank’s lending criteria and grant the necessary loans for the success of their enterprise. 

Commenting on the partnership, CCC Solutions Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Chandula Abeywickrema said, “This is a unique initiative led by Citi in collaboration with NDB Bank and CCCS to empower two rural communities economically. As the lead project manager of the Citi CCCS Rural Economic Empowerment Program, we would want to see that these two rural communities have access to services, finance and markets to make them economically stand strong.”

Citi’s participation signals its commitment towards promoting the national cause of livelihood development at grassroots level through sustainable financial inclusion.

“Citi is convinced that increasing financial awareness and economic education to rural community can support the overall economic and social development of the country. We are proud to partner CCC Solutions Ltd. and NDB Bank on this initiative and hope this is a start of a long journey of imparting financial literacy and business skills to our rural community which will enable financial inclusion in the longer term,” said Citi Country Officer Sri Lanka Ravin Basnayake. 

Citi Sri Lanka together with Citi Foundation has engaged in many CSR projects since its inception in 1979, demonstrating its dedication towards enhancing the economic opportunities for individuals and families of Sri Lanka.