It takes a global village

Nepal faces a significant paradox: while possessing substantial financial resources and a growing tech sector, promising enterprises struggle to find the necessary capital, capabilities, and markets to scale. The country holds approximately $53 billion in bank deposits, receives around $14 billion annually through remittances, and its technology sector now exports over $1 billion in services.

This challenge is exacerbated by declining traditional development finance. Global official development assistance saw its largest annual contraction on record in 2025, with further declines projected. Simultaneously, Nepal is preparing to graduate from Least Developed Country status, a transition occurring as artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes economies and required capabilities.

The article posits that the issue is not a shortage of resources but rather the difficulty in connecting and mobilizing what already exists. The author, drawing on nearly two decades in international development, observed this paradox across all seven provinces. Entrepreneurs sought investors, universities produced graduates employers couldn't find, and researchers' evidence often remained inaccessible to practitioners.

Development organizations piloted solutions, but businesses with the capacity to scale were frequently disconnected. The constraint lies in the pathways between these elements. While Nepal focuses on physical infrastructure, economies also rely on intangible infrastructure: trust, relationships, shared knowledge, credible intermediaries, and networks. These enable capital, talent, and ideas to converge and facilitate the scaling of promising solutions.

An example cited is a $7,200 investment from FCDO's Nepal in Business-Growth Advisors program, which funded an investment-readiness initiative. One participant, Raindrop, subsequently secured a strategic partner and approximately $131,000 in investment. This highlights how targeted support can unlock significant growth. The article concludes that while capital and opportunity exist in abundance, $53 billion in deposits, $39 billion in lending, and $14 billion in remittances, the structures, information, incentives, and trust required for them to meet are often absent, especially as grant funding becomes less certain.