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Enterprise Acceleration Programme

Why this is important 

Women and young people in Pakistan are struggling to access and build fulfilling livelihoods. Women's labour force participation stands at an abysmal 24%, placing the country near the bottom of the 2024 Global Gender Gap Report, ranked 142 out of 145 countries (WEF). Youth unemployment is similarly stark, with over 4.5 million people unemployed in Pakistan overall and the rate reaching 29% among those aged 15 to 24 (Pakistan Economic Survey, 2023). Even for women who are in work, the picture remains difficult: 75% are classified as being in "vulnerable employment", characterised by low pay, a lack of job security, and poor working conditions.

The enterprise landscape tells a similar story. Pakistan ranks 120 out of 136 countries in global enterprise development (Global Entrepreneurship Index, 2022), and just 1% of women are entrepreneurs. Women led startups make up only 10% of all ventures, a figure far below both regional and global averages (LUMS Centre for Entrepreneurship, 2023).

These gaps stem from a number of interconnected causes. Low educational attainment and poor access to skills development leave many women and young people without the foundations needed to enter the workforce or build a business. Cultural and societal norms and attitudes continue to limit women's agency and mobility, while broader economic instability, including high levels of external debt and a large fiscal deficit, constrains opportunity across the board. Cuts to development aid have further entrenched socio-economic vulnerabilities, undermining efforts to alleviate poverty and inequality.

Underpinning all of this is an unsupportive skilling and enterprise ecosystem. On the finance side, women face significant barriers to accessing loans, including low financial literacy, limited access to collateral or credit, poor bank penetration in rural areas, and financing products that are simply not designed with their needs in mind. Even once financing is secured, many women struggle to manage or grow their businesses effectively, hindered by a lack of business development knowledge, a complex regulatory environment, and limited access to markets, business networks, or mentorship. 

Donor: Target Foundation

Project Partners: The Akhter Hameed Khan Foundation (AHKF), Institute of Rural Management (IRM), Kaarvan Crafts Foundation, Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF)

Duration: November 2025 – October 2028 (3 Year)

Project goals  

The three-year Enterprise Acceleration Programme (EAP) targets an often overlooked group: women and youth aged 18 to 45 who already operate microenterprises with the potential to grow. By strengthening their business capabilities, the programme will support the long-term sustainability and economic resilience of microentrepreneurs, while creating opportunities for high performing alumni and new entrepreneurs.

Building on the success of BAT and Target Foundation's Catalysing Women Led Growth in Pakistan project, we have seen firsthand the potential of microenterprises to generate significant and sustainable incomes, particularly for women. EAP aims to build on this success by accelerating enterprise growth while addressing two critical barriers: access to finance and market linkages.

With approximately 4.5 million people unemployed in Pakistan, particularly among young people, entrepreneurship represents an important pathway to economic participation and job creation. However, Pakistan continues to face significant challenges in enterprise development, ranking 120th out of 136 countries, while women remain significantly underrepresented among entrepreneurs, accounting for only 1%. EAP seeks to contribute to changing this landscape by enabling more women and youth to establish and grow sustainable enterprises.

What we are doing

We support women entrepreneurs to achieve a sustained increase in revenue, with demonstrable improvements in financial literacy and business management. Alongside this, we help women scale their enterprises, building the resilience needed to remain in operation well beyond the programme's end.

To make this growth possible, we are building a network of key stakeholders, working to understand and address the gaps in the ecosystem that affect women's access to entrepreneurship resources and opportunities. We also draw on learnings from the success of microcredit in our previous projects to inform these discussions and shape our approach.

Ultimately, we are working towards systems change, advocating for the policies, practices, and innovations needed to make microcredit more accessible for women and youth led microenterprises in the long term.

Over three years, the programme will implement a three pronged approach to microenterprise growth: 

  1. Identifying high potential microenterprises 
    We will identify microenterprises that demonstrate the potential and readiness to grow, scale, and create employment opportunities.

  2. Building enterprise capacity and facilitating growth 
    We will provide gender sensitive business growth training and tailored support to 2,150 microentrepreneurs, including the development of business growth plans, support to access finance, and stronger market linkages. This growth is expected to contribute to the creation of 3,150 new part-time and full-time jobs. 

  3. Strengthening the enterprise ecosystem through systems change We will adopt a systems change approach to address silos within the enterprise ecosystem, with a particular focus on access to finance and market linkages. The programme will use surveys, interviews, and learning from project activities to assess whether existing systems and processes are fit for purpose. Findings will be shared with key experts and practitioners to inform solutions, strengthen collaboration, and help reduce systemic barriers to enterprise growth. 

Key outcomes of the project include: 

  • 1,920 (90% of total target) microenterprises increase revenue by 25% from the baseline. 
  • 660 microentrepreneurs obtain external financing to grow their enterprises  
  • 3,150 new jobs will be created

  • Lenders and key stakeholders from the broader enterprise ecosystem convened to address the challenge of financial inclusion for young entrepreneurs and women.