AP Astana is a regional investment facility, co-created by Accelerate Prosperity (AP) and United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) under a joint initiative: “UK-Central Asia Green Inclusive Growth Fund” (GIG Fund). The overall objective of AP Astana under GIG Fund is to extend and catalyze patient financing to Startups, Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs) to boost economic development and social impact by promoting inclusive entrepreneurship that boosts local economic development, contributes towards green(ing) economy and employment creation especially for women, youth and people with disability. The initial size of AP Astana under the GIG Fund is around $20m, which would aim to unlock an additional $50m for startups and SGBs by 2031.

Question 1

AP currently operates in 6 countries including Pakistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and recently launched its services in Uzbekistan and Syria. Kazakhstan (Astana) is the 7th country of operations, which also makes AP a global enterprise growth accelerator and impact investment fund with one of the largest footprints in the relevant space in developing/underdeveloped countries.

Question 2

AP is committed to investing in a new breed of businesses that pave the way for a sustainable future while addressing some of the most important development challenges in developing countries. Through impact investing, we aim to not only seek discounted financial returns but to also drive significant social and environmental benefits. This approach introduces a unique dimension to the traditional risk and return model, serving the unbanked niche of pre-revenue and early-stage businesses and making them bankable over time that can go on to foster a transformative shift of the traditional financial industry towards such businesses.