KP Impact Challenge:

The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) has entered into a large-scale partnership with the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) for an entrepreneurial education initiative, ‘KP Impact Challenge’. This is a landmark collaboration between LUMS and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government. Dr. Maraim Chughtai is the program director of the project.

A large portion of Pakistan’s youth does not have the relevant exposure therefore their experience is also limited. The KP Impact Challenge caters to these individuals, i.e. lower-end of the market. Through this program, youth will be provided a training platform to transform their ideas into reality. The ventures under KP Impact Challenge will be driven by impact creation, which leads to the economic well-being of the region and promotes quality education and social-cultural aspects of KP. The scope of these ventures can be regional or community based, therefore making it accessible to the rural youth.

Another distinct feature of the KP Impact Challenge is the fact that grants are being awarded to the youth. The existing incubation platforms finance viable ventures through loans or a share in equity. These requirements serve as a drawback for the team executing the venture and also affects their bottom line. The grants model will provide an incentive to the youth of KP and encourage greater ownership of their ventures. Moreover, they will be provided free of cost training by experts. This training will be specifically designed to cater to the needs of the KP youth and cover the breadth of topics relevant to a new venture. Support through these training will be provided throughout the initial three months of venture execution.

The KP Impact Challenge is centered specifically towards the rural youth of KP, who do not necessarily have a background in or exposure to how to run a business well. The youth for the purpose of this project is defined as individuals within age limits of 18 to 30 years. These participants of the KP Impact Challenge will drive KP into a new age of entrepreneurship and innovation and establish a new trend within their communities.

To ensure capacity build and transfer of knowledge, universities in KP are selected to serve as the satellite campuses. The identification will be based on university accessibility to young entrepreneurs from rural communities to attend the training sessions. At least two trainers/observers from these selected universities also attend the training. After their training, these trainers/observers conduct parallel sessions at Satellite campuses. The syllabus is provided by LUMS. The syllabus is developed in Urdu and can also be translated into Pushto if the needs assessment identifies such a requirement.

These trainers are deployed to select cohorts on the satellite campuses and monitored and intervened where necessary. Every effort is made to harmonize quality across the selected cohorts.

INVESTMENT PARTNERS

KP Government also led an initiative for a province-wide economic and social impact competition to promote youth entrepreneurship, innovation, and to provide economic opportunities for talented youth in KP, the KP Impact Challenge would be of its first kind.