As part of their ongoing corporate community commitment, Axiata Group Berhad (Axiata) together with its subsidiaries Celcom Axiata Berhad (Celcom), Edotco Group (Edotco) and Axiata Digital announced the launch of a RM150 million cash fund to provide financial assistance to micro-SMEs.
Axiata’s Covid-19 Assistance Program includes an initial contribution of RM20 million from the Ministry of Finance.
The Covid-19 Assistance Program serves as a direct and urgent intervention by Axiata to give immediate assistance to micro-SMEs facing financial difficulties arising from the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent Movement Control Order (MCO) issued by the government which saw the closure of all non-essential businesses.
Under the current challenging conditions, micro-SMEs, which easily make up more than 50 percent of SMEs in Malaysia and fall mostly within the B40 segment of society, will face mounting difficulties in operating their businesses.
Micro-SMEs tend to have minimal savings and cash flow to buffer against unpredictable events and will not have sufficient funds to sustain daily needs.
In continuing to play its role as partner in national development, Axiata will offer shariah compliant micro-financing through its subsidiary Axiata Digital, riding on the latter’s Aspirasi digital platform, in the range of RM1,000 to RM10,000 and on favourable terms.
This is targeted to benefit an estimate of 150,000 micro-SMEs within Boost, Aspirasi and Celcom ecosystem, as well as within other ecosystems including its e-commerce and FMCG partners and potentially other telcos and e-wallets.
Interest and payment terms include suspended repayment requirements and concessional interest rates.
In addition, Axiata’s Covid-19 Assistance Program will also bundle micro-insurance coverage under Aspirasi to protect micro-SME proprietors and merchants with emergency income, accidental death and Covid-19 assistance. For more information about the program, please visit www.aspirasi.co.
