An Acumen Ambassador’s 24 hours in Lahore

Malik Sarwar is a long-time Partner of Acumen Fund and is the first formal Acumen Fund Ambassador, a new program being launched for Acumen Fund Partners who will directly support the work of our Business Development team.  Malik and Dubai-based Partner Amjad Ali Khan came to Lahore for a short visit. Below, Malik shares his reflections.

Amjad Ali Khan, the renowned lawyer from Dubai’s Afridi & Angel Law Firm (who has spent 27 years in Dubai after a stint with a white shoe law firm in early 80s), and I went on a 24-hour trip to visit Acumen Fund’s portfolio companies in the Lahore area. The cool and collected Ankur Shah, our organizer, arranged this trip within a matter of weeks by smartly coordinating with Aun Rahman in Pakistan.

Amjad and I were under strict instructions to read up on Acumen Fund in Pakistan before we landed. Afraid we might flunk a test, we frantically memorized key facts on all the companies. Unsurprisingly, our flight was fashionably late and by the time we arrived at our hotel, all the restaurants were closed. Luckily, we were able to get some Pakistani-Chinese food and, accompanied by Noor Ullah, plunged into a discussion on social entrepreneurship in Pakistan. We flaunted our deep knowledge of Acumen Fund, and the portfolio companies, and were careful to throw out terms like KKB4, MFI and incremental development.

Retiring at midnight, we reconvened early the next morning and began the fun part: taking pictures as we got a bird’s eye view of Acumen Fund’s high quality social entrepreneurs, their patient capital support and the generous TLC to help them blossom.

We headed for Kashf Foundation headquarters to meet with Khalid Kabir, CFO of Kashf Microfinance Bank. Off to a quick start, KMB already has 25,000 depositors and are on a rapid growth trajectory by providing loans of 25-100,000 Rupees ($300-1,200) to the lower-income communities that the mega-banks typically overlook and the money-lenders typically fleece. KMB is building on Kashf Foundation’s 300,000 customer base and is beginning to offer a full suite of financial services. We bump into the new CEO of Kashf and upon our insistence, he poses for a picture with us. Even though he was startled by our “ambush,” he was pleased to chat in the hallway.

We visited the Kashf Bank branch. This picture has the security guard stripped of his rifle, which I am holding (after he took out the cartridges), and shows the one female loan officer, who was easily the most enthusiastic of the five loan officers we met. Most importantly, it shows two clients in shalwaar kameez, who were proud to share how they paid off their 50,000 Rupee loan on time and were careful to insert a plea for a larger credit line to expand their business. The bank manager in the center was a confident, enthusiastic leader who clearly enjoys his role. Ever observant Aun noticed the vault was visible from the street and recommended that they cover it with a banner, just in case.

Driving an hour out of Lahore towards Kala Shah Kaku, we veered off the main road and drove a mile on the dirt road to reach a thriving low-income housing project called Khuda Ki Basti 4, meaning ‘God’s Own Village. Just before we entered, Aun pointed out the fields where many years ago, he and Jacqueline were caught in crossfire between villagers and some robbers as they waded for 10 minutes through knee deep water to reach the site. Now, electricity poles march overhead and a fresh road smoothly leads our vehicle to the verdant location of the project office.

We visted a few houses with Amjad, the bearded marketing head of AMC and a US graduate, whose last job was as an investment banker in Washington DC. He enthusiastically spoke about how his job was truly meaningful compared to what he was doing in the states. Unfortunately his family doesn’t see it the same way and he often finds himself defending the urgency of providing low-cost housing in a sustainable manner.

We are struck by the cleanliness of the housing clusters, the joy on the children’s faces, and the satisfaction of community members as they expanded their newly acquired homes. There are green fields at the center of the community which will have a park to match Central Park in NYC, as well as a DIL school. Khuda ki Basti’s success has been in delivering housing for less than 250,000 Rupees ($3000) while ensuring the community really takes ownership of their plots rather than sell them to speculators.

We meet community members. To the far right is the fourth person to buy a plot and build a house at KKB-4 and is now an inspiring salesman for the project. He was giving a tour to the gentleman in yellow who didn’t seem totally convinced whether he wanted to move from the city. I decided to try my sales pitch by reminding him that right behind us is only the second Central Park in the world and that his kids will get a quality education. When he quickly retorted he was single and had no kids, I reminded him that he will have kids inshallah and this would be the best place for them to get an education and play in the Park. The jury is out whether I helped close the deal or scare the man away for good.

I am standing with none other than Jawad Aslam, the CEO of AMC, Khuda ki Basti’s developer, who returned from the US to build his own house (seen behind) on the site. He refused my offer of buying his house at any price. I guess some people just can’t be bought. Jawad was hosting the CEO of Arabtec Pakistan. When Amjad asked his impression of the project, he paused before responding “You can’t argue with success”.

Kudos to Jawad, a former Acumen Fund Fellow and current Acumen Fund investee, for his vision and determination to make this project happen and to Acumen Fund for supporting him through this long drawn process of no bribe business set-up. The humming residential community in the middle of lush green fields, along with the water, electricity and transport infrastructure, was a phenomenal sight. That the developer will make money on the project is testament to Acumen Fund’s ability to find amazing entrepreneurs.

The last picture is my favorite. While we strive all year-round to make money and afford a week’s vacation on the beach, soaking ourselves in the water and thinking we are God’s chosen beings, the water buffalo gets it right from the start. While we sweat in 100 degree weather, they cool down in their favorite pristine muddy water pool. What joy it is to be alive. To be a water buffalo, very heaven!

As we wound down, Amjad and I were convinced of three things: 1) There is such a thing as a 24-hour trip that gives enough flavor of the power of Acumen Fund’s vision of finding the best entrepreneurs and helping them grow and succeed. 2) Equally important was the opportunity to have deep, practical discussions with Aun, Ankur and the entrepreneurs in the field. Their enthusiasm was dangerously infectious and truly uplifting. 3) Led by the incisive Ankur and the ever-practical Aun, we discussed concrete next steps for the short to medium term. I volunteered Amjad’s home in Dubai to host an event for potential partners and the ever-positive Amjad willingly agreed. Onwards to a successful Q4 as an Acumen Fund Ambassador - including a 48-hour trip to visit the Karachi companies!