Aban advances financial inclusion initiative for women

Since graduating, Aban Haq (Pakistan, MPhil Development Studies, Oxford and Weidenfeld-Hoffmann, 2017) has been working at the World Bank. Recently, she started working for Karandaaz, a not-for-profit development finance company which promotes access to finance for small businesses through commercially directed investments, and financial inclusion for individuals. Aban’s work forms part of a new initiative by Karandaaz, which aims at improving financial inclusion and generating jobs in the economy. By managing the Innovation Challenge Fund, focused on Small to Medium Enterprises, Aban’s work was instrumental in launching a first of its kind programme for women-led businesses in Pakistan. The Innovation Challenge Fund also provides business incubation to 45 women entrepreneurs and will subsequently be providing them investment to grow their businesses. Speaking of this work Aban said, “I’m quite proud of the programme and hope we can continue it in the coming years”.