AKDN | Enterprise Development

AKDN works across the spectrum of enterprise development, whether assisting poultry farmers in Afghanistan or creating large-scale hydroelectric plants in Uganda that provide half the nation’s electricity. We are guided by decades of experience in husbanding companies and institutions. We have nurtured several from their inception as small entities to achieving a stock exchange listing.

AKDN also works to build many of the characteristics of healthy, robust economies, including employable skills, support for small- and medium-sized companies, and savings and credit programmes that increase financial inclusion.

The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), for example, puts into place the means to bring prosperity to a region. It builds roads, bridges and markets, and invests in infrastructure and connectivity solutions to enable globally connected remote working.

AKF educates youth in 21st-century skills and creates coalitions of employers who source and invest in young workers from disadvantaged backgrounds, readying the next generation for future-facing careers.

The Accelerate Prosperity programme in Pakistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan is a joint initiative of AKF and the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development’s (AKFED) Industrial Promotion Services. It promotes entrepreneurship, placing emphasis on women and youth entrepreneurship, and the growth of start-up and early-stage businesses. It offers coaching, networking, mentoring, finance and market connections to help businesses take off. It also provides skills development in vocational and technical trades. Find out more about Accelerate Prosperity.

The University of Central Asia (UCA) has established entrepreneurship centres in Khorog and Naryn. Tailored to local needs, the Centres offer entrepreneurship training, mentoring, workspaces, networking opportunities and access to finance.