Improving access to capital for Māori

What we are doing and why

The Māori economy is key to the wellbeing of Māori and is a significant and increasingly important contributor to the wider economy of Aotearoa New Zealand.

In our role as kaitiaki of the financial system, we seek to support a thriving Māori economy. We continue to work with a range of stakeholders to understand the Māori economy and the challenges around Māori access to capital.

Te Ōhanga Māori - The Māori Economy 2023

Te Ōhanga Māori 2023 – The Māori Economy 2023 report was officially released on March 10, 2025. This marks the first time the report has been fully commissioned by Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)  in collaboration with Business and Economic Research Limited (BERL), with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) actively participating in the working and steering committees. 

Read the full report on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website. 

Key highlights

 

The report highlights that the Māori Economy continues to be a strong, growing, unique, and diversified component of the New Zealand economy. The Māori economy is diversifying beyond traditional sectors such as agriculture, forestry, and fishing, with real estate, property services, and professional services now leading growth. It also highlights progress in Māori entrepreneurship, high-skilled employment, and workforce participation.

Te Ōhanga Māori 2023 report builds on a series of reports (the RBNZ commissioned the previous Te Ōhanga Māori report in 2021) that deepen our collective understanding of the Māori economy. This information continues to inform and shape ongoing initiatives, including Māori access to capital research and dashboard, lending on whenua Māori, the Māori data pilot, Te Waka Hourua, our Te Ao Māori strategy, and related financial inclusion workstreams.

Te Ōhanga Māori 2018 report

In partnership with Business and Economic Research Limited, we released our report Te Ōhanga Māori – The Māori Economy in 2018.

Our report found that Māori are underrepresented in business ownership, and Māori business that does exist does not realise their full potential. Challenges include access to capital and higher interest rates.

As kaitiaki of our financial system, it is incumbent on us to tackle these inequalities.

Read the Te Ōhanga Māori – The Māori Economy report

Māori access to capital work programme

Our Māori access to capital work programme has researched the current system and has developed potential pathways for future change.

An efficient, effective, and stable financial system is one where capital is allocated based on risk and return and where there is equitable access to capital for all firms, including Māori firms.

Timeline of work to date

• 2021: Release of Te Ōhanga Māori 2018 report
• 2022: Release of Ethnic variations in firm financing (Ethnic variations in firm financing - Reserve Bank of New Zealand - Te Pūtea Matua)
• 2022: Public consultation and release of Māori Access to Capital Issues Paper
• 2023: Central Bank Network Symposium on Indigenous Inclusion and release of our Approach to Financial Inclusion
• 2024: Māori Land Court release of Practice Note for Lending on Whenua Māori
• 2024: Adrian Orr’s speech to My Fiduciary Conference, Taupō
• 2025: Bulletin article - Māori Access to Capital – Market Failures
  
  

Timeline of future reports 

• 2025: May – release of Māori access to capital indicators snapshot
• 2025: November - release of Māori access to capital indicators dashboard