What is the mesmer program?
What is the mesmer program?
In 2019, the pandemic occurred, causing businesses to slow down due to minimal contact between customers and business. This results in a decline of income and the shutdown of businesses. In Ethiopia, different sectors were hit by the Covid 19. As the study by First Consult estimated and predicted that in Ethiopia, about 1.5 million Micro, small enterprise faces a financing gap of $6.1 billion, which would create 7.5 million jobs if addressed. Other critical constraints to the growth of MSMEs are lack of collateral, weak entrepreneurial and business management skills, little to no capacity to absorb shocks, and a low level of financial service awareness. Through partnering with stakeholders Mastercard Foundation developed a micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises Resilience Program called MESMER. The Mesmer program was launched in October 2022 to support more than 72 thousand enterprises across the country, hoping to create a job of 410,800 jobs through the provision of financing for micro, small, and medium enterprises. The Mesmer Program is 5 5-year program that is provided to enterprises by four banks, Awash, Dashen, Hibret, and Bank of Abyssinia.
The Mesmer program provides business development support, psychosocial services, and technical assistance to financial institutions that help them to enhance the performance and objectives of the program.
How does Mesmer PROGRAM work?
The MESMER Program is 5-year program that works in the following ways. The program mainly targets micro, small, and medium enterprises operating with a business license.
- These are start-up operators whose enterprises with less than six months of operation and with innovative ideas;
- the loan allocated to Women (80%) and youth (70%)
- Priority sectors such as manufacturing and agricultural value chains.
Enterprises that fall under the following classification can ask and apply for a mesmer loan at the specified bank, like at Awash Bank, Dashen Bank, Bank of Abyssinia, and Hibret Bank. At all bank, the requirement is the same with the same loan amount under each category. Therefore, any enterprise can request from the listed bank by fulfilling the criteria. Through following these step you can apply on the application portal: https://ethiomesmer.com/.
| Enterprise Category | Number of Employees | Total Asset (Birr) | Sector |
| Micro Enterprise | Up to 10 | ≤ 400,000 | Agriculture |
| Up to 10 | ≤ 600,000 | Service / Industry | |
| Small Enterprise | 11 – 50 | 400,001 – 5,000,000 | Agriculture / Service |
| 11 – 50 | 600,001 – 10,000,000 | Industry | |
| Medium Enterprise | 51 – 100 | 5,000,001 – 50,000,000 | Service |
| 51 – 100 | 10,000,001 – 90,000,000 | Industry | |
| Start-up | < 12 months in operation or in process of licensing | Not applicable | All sectors |
What are the required document for Mesmer Program
What are the supporting documents required during the application and later appraisal?
The applicant should fulfill the following documents that are important to access the loan are the following.
- National/Residential ID;
- Renewed Business License;
- TIN number;
- Evidence for the number of employees
- Evidence of the business presence in the area (Photo)
what is the maximum Loan at Mesmer Program ?
What is the loan amount provided per enterprise under MESMER Program?
| Business Category | Credit Fund |
| Startup | 30,000.00 |
| Micro | 30,000.00 |
| Small | 180,000.00 |
| Medium | 300,000.00 |
Where to apply MESMER Program?
How to apply is one the most frequently asked questions. In in order to apply mesmer program the enterprises first select which method is suitable for she/he. Since two option way application is possible.
The first one is through online that can be filled out and submitted to partnering banks, or online using website www.ethiomesmer.com.
The second one is applying through forms at the partnering banks or the microfinance institute
What are the step to Apply MESMER Program
Application Process of MESMER Program
Step 1: Register or Sign up by providing your full name, phone number and memorable password (must be 8 characters). Agree to the Terms and Conditions
Step 2: Sign in using the authentication code sent to your phone eg.(XB3445). Please input the code in the space provided.
Step 3: Complete the application form for Credit if you have a formal enterprise.
Step 4: Applicants are screened based on the eligibility and selection criteria
Step 5: Applicants that pass the first screening attend business development training
Step 6: Enterprises that complete the business development training are transferred to one of the four banks for assessment
Step 7: Enterprises are notified by SMS which bank their case has been transferred to. They then start accessing loan they applied for
Step 8: Provide all documents required by the bank and receive credit from the bank
Step 9: Make regular repayments of the credit as per the agreed repayment schedule
MESMER PROGRAM AT Awash Bank
for instance if a customer want to Apply at Awash Bank he/she have to follow the following step How to apply through Awash bank and process with awash bank
Second option Apply at a branch: customer should go to nearest Awash Bank branch to ask detail about the requirement and document important for this application and apply through branch.
finally they Check eligibility: The program targets start-up, micro, small, and medium enterprises. Eligibility criteria are likely to be based on factors like legal registration, number of employees, and asset value, as described on the MESMER website.
Success History of Awach Saving and Credit Sharing Association
