SEDF, Accelerate Prosperity ink MoU for SMEs financing

According to Business Recorder, the Sindh Enterprise Development Fund and Accelerate Prosperity signed a memorandum of understanding on February 16 at SEDF's Karachi office. Accelerate Prosperity is a programme of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme. The deal is aimed at widening credit options for young companies and smaller firms across the province.

Under the arrangement, Accelerate Prosperity will screen and prepare promising startups and SMEs, while SEDF will assess them and offer markup subsidies linked to KIBOR, in line with its mandate and priority sectors. Officials said the goal is to bring down borrowing costs, improve bankability and help businesses reach formal lenders. Sindh's Special Assistant to the Chief Minister, who also chairs SEDF, described the partnership as an organised route for scalable enterprises.

The government presents the signing as a step away from isolated support schemes toward an institutional financing framework. It sees enterprise growth as a central driver of industrial expansion, job creation and long-term economic stability in Sindh.