SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN PAKISTAN

The world is currently faced with numerous societal challenges in the

economic, social, and environmental spheres that must be addressed. Global warming,
poverty, unemployment, and rising economic inequality are just a few of the issues that
need to be addressed. The public debate has centered on finding solutions to them, with
social entrepreneurship being one of them. These challenges are seen by social
entrepreneurs as opportunities that can be profitably and sustainably exploited. As a result,
social entrepreneurship has emerged as a fascinating phenomenon and a new area of
entrepreneurship research. Furthermore, a social entrepreneur identifies a societal issue
and then establishes an organization to address the issue. The development of social
entrepreneurship in Pakistan is still at the grassroots level (SEED Ventures).
Social enterprises in Pakistan have evolved out of societal imperatives, based
on the unmet demands of the local communities. The country’s social enterprise ecosystem
is in its nascent stages but has experienced rapid expansion and growth in recent years. This
sector, among other roles, offers the potential to fill the gap between public services which
do not currently reach the entire population and services provided by the private sector
which are often unaffordable for vulnerable and marginalized communities.
HOW SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP ADDRESSING PROBLEMS OF SOCIETY

Pakistan has seen a growth in number of social enterprises working in diverse

sectors and aiming to tacking some pressing issues faced by communities. Rapid
urbanization, the growth of public sector universities, an increased number of incubators
and accelerator initiatives have all contributed to a new wave of young socially-oriented
entrepreneurs across the country. It is encouraging to see entrepreneurs pitching ideas and
implementing them in areas including energy, clean drinking water, education, health,
construction, financial inclusion and retail, among others. Today social enterprises are found
in varied sectors of community welfare and are addressing the issues which includes the
followings:-
 Microfinance (e.g. Akhwat and Kashf Foundation).
 Sustainable and low-cost housing (e.g. Ghonsla).
 Health and environment (e.g. Hashoo Foundation, DoctHERs, Milestone
Disability, Naya Jeevan).
 Renewable energy (e.g. Sun Volts).
  Skills development (e.g. SEED5 Ventures, Youth Engagement Services
Network, Rabtt, Aman Foundation).
 Income generation (e.g. Fori Mazdoori).
 Food security (e.g. RIZQ).
 Tourism (e.g. Desi Tour).
 Peacebuilding and youth engagement (e.g. The Second Floor, SEPLAA6 and
Peshawar 2.0).
 Environmental protection (e.g. Saibaan).

Most social enterprises are led by relatively younger segment of

entrepreneurs. Social enterprises hire nearly four times as many women as mainstream
SMEs and most social enterprises are seeking to grow and develop new products and
services. Education, health and social care are the most common sectors of operation for
Pakistani social enterprises with nearly half of Pakistani social enterprises operating in the
education sector.
ROLE OF SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

In Pakistan, there are currently around 448,000 social enterprises in

operation, with a higher contribution to GDP. Approximately 53% of multi-sector enterprises
are in education, 30% in health and social care, 11% in agriculture and fisheries, 9% in
energy and clean technology, 3% in forestry, and 2% in transportation. These social
entrepreneurs in Pakistan helping the economy in following ways:-
 Drives economic growth and creates new job. 
 Encourages innovation by bringing new ideas, products, and services to the
market. 
 Contributes to social change by developing products or services that reduce
people’s dependence on outdated technologies. 
 Addresses social and economic problems by creating solutions that meet the
needs of society.
 Enables competition which improves business efficiency and lowers prices
for consumers.
 Raises Standard of Living.
 Economic Independence.
 Benefits of New Firms and Businesses.
 Creation of Jobs.
 Encourages Capital Formation.
 Elimination of Poverty.
  Community Development.
 Optimal Use of Resources.
 Increases Gross National Product and Per Capita Income.

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP FROM ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE

Social entrepreneurship is extremely important for a country's economic
development. Social entrepreneurs play a significant role in all major economies around the
world. The ability of social entrepreneurship to boost economic systems is one of the main
reasons why many countries promote it. New paths and opportunities for contributing to
economic development are explored by social entrepreneurs. Social entrepreneurs'
innovative activity creates a continuous destructive process on the economic system's
equilibrium, resulting in opportunities for economic rent. Social entrepreneurship boosts
the number and quality of jobs in the economy. Second, social entrepreneurship fosters
innovation, which entails new production methods as well as the development of new and
improved products. Third, in terms of the country's GDP, social entrepreneurship boosts
productivity and growth. Given the current economic climate, social entrepreneurial
activities are critical for addressing social issues, particularly in developing countries like
Pakistan. One of the first steps proposed by the Pakistani government is collaboration
between high-potential institutions from various government and private agencies, which
must adopt the concept of social entrepreneurship to the world of entrepreneurship in the
field of research as a whole to assist entrepreneurs in developing a range of low-cost, high-
quality products and services.
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP FROM SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE
Through its associated activities, social entrepreneurship has had a positive
impact on society, facilitating job creation and social well-being. Entrepreneurs will be able
to access new markets, improve their image with stakeholders, and differentiate their
products thanks to social entrepreneurship, which plays an important role in achieving the
goal of sustainable development in society. Social entrepreneurs identify what isn't working
and work to fix it by altering the system, disseminating the solution, and persuading entire
societies to change their ways. In solidarity with poor communities, social entrepreneurs
create new organizations, new markets, and new ways of thinking and acting to provide
basic services such as renewable energy, clean water, health care technologies, education,
and financial services. Some Social entrepreneurs specialize in working with women and
their unique socioeconomic needs. Social entrepreneurship refers to activities that are both
innovative and financially sustainable and are aimed at addressing social issues. Its
commercial activities, on the other hand, do not have to align with its social mission; rather,
their goal is to generate financial resources for achieving social goals. Social entrepreneurs
act as change agents in society, seizing opportunities that others overlook to improve
systems, develop new approaches, and develop solutions that will improve society.

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

Social entrepreneurs often face distinct challenges and barriers. As outlined
in previous sections, access to appropriate funding and finance is seen as the main barrier to
social enterprise growth in Pakistan. Other critical barriers include factors such as access to
advisory services for women-led social enterprise or understanding and awareness of social
enterprise among the general public. Apart from these, barriers also arise due to factors,
including culture, lack of government facilitation, market imperfections, weak skills and
educational endowments, and legislation and policies which stifle social enterprise growth.
To address the above-mentioned issues there is an urgent need to:-
 Recognize the vibrant and growing social enterprise sector in Pakistan.
 Conduct research and develop the evidence base vis-à-vis the scale and
scope of social enterprises in Pakistan.
 Raise awareness regarding contribution of social enterprises amongst
policymakers.
 Develop and adopt a targeted set of facilitation measures as part of the
fiscal, trade, industrial and investment policies.
 Build capacity of social enterprises in terms of scalability, legal and statutory
compliance, financial management, and human resource.
 Review policy approaches to social enterprise in various other countries in
order to establish the full range of areas in which policy can hinder or
support social entrepreneurship development.

SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS IN PAKISTAN

From turning organic waste into fertilizer to sharing farm equipment, new
businesses seeking to address social problems in Pakistan have made the South Asian nation
one of the best performers in the second global poll on social entrepreneurs. Pakistan was
one of the three countries, along with Australia and the Netherlands, whose overall ranking
improved the most since the first Thomson Reuters Foundation experts' poll on the best
countries for social entrepreneurs in 2016. The country advanced 18 spots to place 14th
among the world's 45 biggest economies, seen as a nation where social entrepreneurs can
make a living and attract good staff. Social issues no longer go unnoticed, and there is a
general increase in public eagerness, particularly among the youth. As the government
struggles to find solutions for a nation affected by poverty, water scarcity, climate change
and lack of sanitation, social startups are emerging to fill the gaps. Most social enterprises in
Pakistan are headed by young entrepreneurs.
1. NEELUM HASSAN,
A 26-year-old industrial design graduate, founded her social enterprise,
Aerosync, in 2016 to design and manufacture products with a social or environmental
impact. Her first project is a design for a lightweight, solar-powered mobile cart with
foldable counter that converts into a shelter for the thousands of street vendors in Pakistani
cities. She won the "Most Promising Woman-Led Business" award at the Global Clean tech
program set up by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
2. SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (SMEDA)
SMEDA's mission is to promote and facilitate the development and growth of
small and medium-sized businesses in Pakistan. SMEDA organizes and develops a number of
partnerships to make investment more accessible through various channels.
3. TECHNICAL EDUCATION & VOCATIONAL TRAINING AUTHORITY (TEVTA)
TEVTA promotes competitiveness by assisting in the creation of a high-
quality and productive workplace. It intends to achieve this by promoting demand-driven,
standardized, and integrated technical and vocational education and training.
4. PAKISTAN INNOVATION FOUNDATION
PIF's mission is to assist non-profit organizations that work to promote innovation,
particularly in the corporate sector. PIF also hosted events to discuss Pakistan's innovative
developments in the economics, STEM, and educational sectors.
5. BRITISH COUNCIL
Through policy, education, and training programs on SE, it assists in the development of
social enterprise. It operates the "Active Citizen" program, which was created with the goal
of fostering social entrepreneurs.