KARACHI / LONDON: From converting organic waste into fertilizers to sharing agricultural equipment, new companies seeking to address social problems in Pakistan have made the nation of South Asia one of the best in the second global survey of social entrepreneurs. As the government struggles to find solutions for a nation affected by poverty, water scarcity, climate change and lack of sanitation, new social enterprises are emerging to fill the gaps.
Pakistan was one of three countries, along with Australia and the Netherlands, whose overall ranking improved most since the first Thomson Reuters Foundation expert survey on the best countries for social entrepreneurs in 2016.
The country advanced 18 places to rank 14th among the 45 largest economies in the world, seen as a nation where social entrepreneurs can make a living and attract a good staff.
"The landscape has changed greatly in terms of openness and receptivity to entrepreneurship," said Shaista Ayesha, 39, who directs product development at SEED Ventures, a company incubator based in Karachi.
"Almost all universities have business incubation centers that work with the public or private sector to support local businesses."
Pakistani youth are not only aware of the political and socio-economic challenges facing their country, but they have also found social networks to express their opinions.
The interest of young people in the sector was seen as a stimulus for growth, with a youth boom that gave Pakistan one of the youngest populations in the world, a trend that will continue until at least 2050, according to the United Nations Program United for Development.
About two thirds of the 210 million Pakistanis are under 30 and 29{7be40b84a6a43fc4fae13304fce9a2695859798abfc41afd127b9f8b21c5f9c5} are between 15 and 29 years old.
This new generation of Pakistani youth was not only aware of the political and socio-economic challenges facing their country, but also found social networks to express their opinions.
"Social problems no longer go unnoticed, and there is a general increase in public eagerness, particularly among young people, to intensify and bring positive change," said Ayesha.
Youth movement
Pakistani banker and economist Ishrat Hussain, an adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan on institutional reforms and austerity, said he was not surprised by the results of the survey.
Hussain cited microfinance institutions, business schools and the digital economy to support entrepreneurship.
"There are higher education institutions that have established entrepreneur centers that are putting together people who are not formally trained with business tools, especially women, farmers, youth … people who would otherwise be neglected," he added.
The majority of social enterprises in Pakistan are run by young entrepreneurs. About a fifth are led by women, compared to five percent of the main companies, according to a British Council investigation.
Neelum Hassan, a 26-year-old industrial design graduate, founded her social enterprise, Aerosync, in 2016 to design and manufacture products with a social or environmental impact.
His first project is a design for a lightweight, solar-powered mobile car with a folding counter that becomes a refuge for thousands of street vendors in Pakistani cities.
Street and mobile sales allow people to establish businesses with minimal spending and no paperwork, but increasingly they face repression by the authorities for not having licenses.
Your plan would provide a ready package with registered carts, allocated space and affordable lease schemes.
Neelum Hassan won the "Most Promising Company Led by Women" award in the Global Clean technology program established by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the $ 15,000 prize went to the development of a small manufacturing line.
"I personally will not call this a success story because the journey has just begun," he said.
The best access to local and international investment, with Pakistan jumping 24 places to ninth place in the last survey, conducted in association with Deutsche Bank, has helped many young social entrepreneurs to realize their ideas.
The Impact Link support group was launched in December 2018 with the backing of the Scottish government to support a small number of social enterprises that go beyond the early stages of growth.
In the last round of financing, he granted 4,000 pounds ($ 4,946) each to five new companies to expand his business.
These include TrashIt, which is working on the collection of organic wastes from food vendors and converting them into fertilizers, and Good Earth, which is behind sharing platforms for agricultural equipment, often beyond the means of poor farmers.
SEED Ventures co-founder Faraz Khan said that a proposed law to provide a legal definition for social enterprises would also help attract more foreign investors to Pakistan once approved.
"Once under a legal umbrella, they can attract global impact capital and philanthropic financing," Khan said.
Ahad Nazir, head of the Center for Private Sector Participation in Pakistan's Institute for Sustainable Development Policy, said the law would give certainty to investors and social entrepreneurs.
"Some of the companies that claim to be social companies are not really social companies, and some companies that are actually social companies don't know they are," he said.
Ishrat Hussain, however, did not agree.
"I think it is a bit premature to gag these businessmen with a legal framework. Let them flourish and flourish, and when they reach maturity, then rule them," he said.
"You should not suppress your creativity at this stage."
Posted on Dawn, October 23, 2019
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1512360/youth-women-spur-social-business-growth-in-pakistan-global-poll