Nagaland: 19 women vendors in Kohima receives zero interest loans

In order to uplift the women street vendors of the state of Nagaland, the Entrepreneurs Associates (tEA) disbursed Zero Interest Loans to 19 women vendors in Kohima on November 3. 

Supported by Capri Global Capital Limited (CGCL) the loans are part of the ‘Uplifting Women Street Vendors program’ which trains and capacitates women street vendors. The 19 women who received the interest-free loans of Rs 10000 each are members of the organisation and have attended the training programs organised by tEA in the past. 

Launched in 2017, tEA has trained 5500+ women so far across Nagaland and Manipur states. Speaking at the program, Neikule Doulo, Head of Communications, tEA shared that the program began because of the continued observation that local women vendors were not growing in their profession, unlike other business people. The program began with the training of 16 women vendors in  Kohima, in October 2017; funded by well-wishers without any other external support. 

The success of the initial program led to its expansion to other districts of the state and beyond Manipur. Neikule stated that the ‘Interest Free Loans’ are the outcome of the pandemic lockdowns when tEA observed that vendors, daily wagers and labourers were rendered completely unemployed and bereft of capital to even relaunch their businesses. With the support of partners such as the CGCL, these interest-free loans were launched in 2021 to enable small-time traders such as women vendors and micro-business owners to get back on their feet. She also added that tEA has introduced skills training into the program and women vendors across the state will not be able to avail free pieces of training for food processing under the current UWSV program.

Vepelou Koza, Branch Head of North East Small Finance Bank, Kohima who was the resource person at the meeting shared about the importance of savings. She also encouraged the vendors to be honest in their financial dealings to build long-term trust with partners and funders. 

Sharing her experience as a vendor who is benefitting from the association with The Entrepreneurs Associates, MhabeniOvung shared that the tEA has helped her in scaling her business and through the financial support provided to her. She also encouraged her fellow vendors to leverage the association and benefit from the programs.