ADB funds $35 million for BISP’s business incubation programme

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided a grant of US$ 35 Million to Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) for its Business Incubation Self-Employment (BISE) programme.

The first phase of the US $ 35 Million Business Incubation for Self-Employment (BISE) BISE Programme shall be implemented over two years from 2018 as further specified in the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) as implementing agency.

An official of BISP stated that the programme was envisaged in 2015 and it took three years to launch this initiative. She thanked the Secretary BISP and his team for their unequivocal efforts.

 The ADB and the Government of Pakistan mutually agreed to include NRSP as an “implementing agency” responsible for carrying out the “Business Incubation and Inclusive Business Components” of the BISP Graduation Program (BGP) on the terms and conditions to be agreed between BISP and NRSP and duly endorsed by ADB.

The said project has also been endorsed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, he told APP.

He informed that BISE aimed at making poor people ready for taking up viable self-employment. The program will target a total of 100,000 households in total five districts including Bahawalpur, Charsadda, Jacobabad, Kech and Nasirabad.

The selected beneficiaries shall be competent to be self-employed and show their willingness to be part of the graduation program.

The key features of BISE programme comprise of profiling and validation of targeted households on their potential for self-employment. It includes social mobilization and capacity building specific technical skill trainings and business development support, Income Generating Grants (IGGs), access to working capital through Community Investment Fund, business coaching through developing their capacities in asset and business management, numeracy and functional literacy and linkages development.

It also included insurance of beneficiaries against accidental death, hospitalization and disability risks, linking up the poor to the value chains of small and large companies in the private sector.

One of the major aspects include an agreement with the selected BISP beneficiary that UCT shall continue for only 1-2 years to provide protection against risks, thus, successfully graduating the BISP beneficiary out of poverty.