The biggest single obstacle to investment in Afghanistan is risk.
The Afghanistan Business Innovation Fund
The Afghanistan Business Innovation Fund (ABIF) provides competitive grants to small and medium-sized Afghan companies to match the risks and returns of their investment projects. This unique approach is designed to strengthen the Afghanistan private sector’s ability to invest and compete while also ensuring that the public, including British taxpayers, receive the best value for money from their investment.
ABIF is expected to create up to 5000 new jobs and provide a 10% increase in monthly incomes for up to 100,000 people. It will also deliver wider benefits for poor consumers by launching high quality products at reduced prices. Good examples of this are vital pharmaceutical goods, which are being made available to poor men and women in Afghanistan for the first time through a new chain of ABIF-supported pharmacies.
Our role
Itad is working with its consortium partner, Landell Mills Ltd., to improve the design and to monitor the progress of each investment project funded by ABIF. Frequent and actionable management information enables ABIF to track project implementation against key performance indicators, ensuring the programme meets its key goals and objectives.
Our approach
To do this, Itad has designed an innovative performance framework which is relevant to the particular challenges of the Afghanistan environment. It has also designed this framework to meet the methodological complexities of developing M&E systems for private sector development initiatives delivered through competitive grant-giving mechanisms.
ABIF was established in 2012 and has recently awarded the first round of grants for small investment projects. Itad has developed the programme logframe for ABIF as a whole and is currently working with grantees and ABIF staff to design and implement M&E systems for each investment project. Data on the impact of these projects is expected later in 2013.
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