Nurturing entrepreneurship in Tajikistan

The Government of Tajikistan aims to expand productive employment, increase agricultural production and market access, and raise rural incomes. In line with this mission, the joint Aga Khan Foundation and Aga Khan Economic Fund for Development initiative, Accelerate Prosperity (AP), inspires and funds entrepreneurs to improve the quality of their products and enter new markets. It offers incubation, acceleration programmes and investment and post-investment technical assistance to startups, creating social, environmental and economic growth.

By the end of 2022, Accelerate Prosperity had invested almost $5m in 292 small- and medium-sized enterprises. Over 1,600 projects have been incubated and almost 350 accelerated countrywide, creating jobs for nearly 1,000 people, half of whom are women.

Meet some of the entrepreneurs who have used AP’s investment and training.

Abdugaffor Najmiddinov, of Kisht, Khatlon, grows tomatoes and potatoes. He also produces juices and jams from local fruits and vegetables such as anzur onion, yellow and red cherry, mulberry and hawthorn. “The residents of our village get their harvest from the dehkan (family) farms and sell them for a very low price in the local market. I decided to process them and provide the locals with employment. This helps raise the price and generates more profit for local producers.”

”To improve the quality and volume of production, ease the physical labour work and satisfy the market needs to operate internationally, modern equipment is necessary. Therefore, we requested an investment loan from AP to buy this equipment. The investment has been very successful for our business. In previous years, we produced only three varieties, with six or seven thousand boxes, and now we produce 25-30 thousand boxes with nine types of products.”

“Because of climate change, with either constant rain or drought for consecutive years, we have to adjust our production strategy. Greenhouses allow us to grow the crops earlier.”

“Our main goal is to improve the quality of life in our household, and in our village. By processing in our workshop, we employ 15 workers (10 women and five men), who are improving the quality of life for their families, and we intend to increase the number of employees to 20 personnel.”

Nasim Abdullahodzhaev from Dushanbe has been developing innovative IT projects since his first year of university, beginning with an online bookshop. In 2018, Nasim created BO/BO, a digital marketing studio which helps businesses build an online presence, create websites and integrate Customer Relationship Management platforms. “Our mission is to create more innovative companies by introducing new technologies to businesses.”

As BO/BO continued to grow, he looked for ways to create a better working environment for his employees. The interest on bank loans was too high, so he turned to AP, which offers risk-tolerant, subsidised loans as well as one-to-one mentorship and technical assistance. “We were introduced to financial modelling and how to design it properly. We analysed the cost of goods sold and understood how to price our service properly.” Nasim received an investment of $12,000 to purchase computers, tablets and professional photography and videography equipment. He expects to repay the loan earlier than scheduled.

“Thanks to the acceleration programme and the investment we secured, we have increased our performance indicators, which has a direct impact on the work of our customers. We were also able to create seven additional jobs. The number of our clients has increased to over 200 companies in one calendar year, and we have assisted more than 20 construction companies with full digitalisation. The average bill for the services provided has doubled. BO/BO has now entered the cloud technology market, becoming the leader in sales of the cloud version of Bitrix 24 in Tajikistan.”

Afsona, of Jaikhun, Khatlon, has been passionate about sewing since she was a little girl sewing clothes for her dolls. She learned to sew from local seamstresses and began to get so many orders that she decided to open a sewing workshop. Afsona applied for AP’s programme in 2019, learning the basics of business, including financial models, risks and taxes. With the investment received, she purchased more sewing machines and hired additional workers.

“When AP proposed this training to me, I gladly agreed. It gave me a deeper understanding of business and I was able to increase my clients up to 30 percent. We plan to double our production, and there are no challenges for it, since the new equipment eases our work. We have six new sewing machines, six workers and 60 percent of the population in the district are our customers.” The workshop now produces more than 6,000 school uniforms annually, as well as national and wedding dresses. Afsona plans to build a new building for her store, creating new jobs for women who want to learn sewing.

“In 2007, I lost my child, who was sick. I went to the local clinic, but they were unable to help. The loss of my child motivated me to open a medical centre for children, who can get support and medical treatment locally,” says economist Shohina Gadaibaeva.

With the support of her husband, she established her clinic in 2020 and enrolled in the Accelerate Prosperity programme. Here she learned more about running a business during the five-day intensive incubation bootcamp, went through the acceleration stage and received financing to provide the medical centre with the necessary equipment. Shohina has now opened another medical centre branch and plans to open a rehabilitation centre.

Abdurozik Abduloev founded the clothing company Ortex in 2011. “The idea came to me when I worked with Carera [a clothing brand]. I wanted people to wear locally sourced cotton clothes, but with an accessible price. With the financial loan secured from Accelerate Prosperity I bought a new machine for printing stickers. We have now expanded our products to include t-shirts with various prints, and children's clothing, as well as selling the stickers to other clothing companies.”

Dr Sufieva Shirin enrolled in AP’s incubation and acceleration programmes, helping her develop a successful financial model for a dentistry business. With the investment received from AP, she was able to equip Umka, Dushanbe’s first paediatric dentistry. She gained 500 patients within 10 months.

Find out more about AP Tajikistan