Merchant Finance Pte Limited has introduced two new specialized teams, Vanua Finance and Marama Finance, aimed at supporting Fiji’s resource owners and women entrepreneurs.

Unveiled at the Ministry of iTaukei Resource Owners Forum yesterday, these teams are designed to provide tailored financing options to help indigenous landowners and women scale their businesses and generate sustainable wealth.

Merchant Finance CEO, Veilawa Rereiwasaliwa, highlighted the significant potential of converting natural resources into valuable assets, which the Vanua Finance team will support through projects in land subdivision, tourism, gravel extraction, and commercial property development.

“62 projects in the pipeline worth $100 million, we have already approved $5.1 million for five projects, with more approvals expected soon.”

Rereiwasaliwa says the Marama Finance team focuses on gender-based financing, offering support for MSMEs, agriculture and fisheries value chains, commercial mechanized production, and global market producers.

He adds this initiative seeks to empower women entrepreneurs with funding up to $500,000.

Merchant Finance continues to expand its financial services portfolio, now including indigenous-based and gender-based financing, and plans to introduce more innovative products later this year.