A Welsh not-for-profit organisation is leading the way in providing start-up finance and business support to communities who may otherwise be financially excluded.
Assadaqaat Community Finance (ACF) provides interest-free finance alongside targeted training, advice and mentoring to underserved communities, especially those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities as well as migrant communities including refugees and asylum seekers.
The Cardiff-based organisation has received financial contributions from Welsh Government, NatWest, Cardiff University, WCVA, BAWSO and other key benefactors to run and deliver the ACF Women Entrepreneurship Programme. This flagship entrepreneurship programme enables women to build their confidence and access entrepreneurial skills, training advice, mentoring and interest free finance required to start their own micro, small and medium enterprises.
More than 3,000 women have engaged with ACF to date, with around 1,000 completing the ACF Women Entrepreneurship Programme and 125 women in the process of setting up their own businesses.
As well as its focus on Welsh communities, ACF has also run similar entrepreneurship programmes in Ghana, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. It has now been approached by organisations in England, Scotland, Ireland and Lesotho who are keen to replicate the ACF approach.
Akmal Hanuk, founder and CEO of ACF, said:
“ACF is needed primarily because of the market failure of our major financial organisations to address the challenges and barriers faced by our communities to access finance for starting their own businesses. Essentially, these financial institutions have an eligibility criterion which many women and young people and many of those from Black and minority ethnic communities simply cannot meet.
“ACF helps these individuals to start their own businesses, which in turn enables them to then be financially included into the system.”
‘Assadaqaat’ can be translated from Arabic as ‘benevolence’, ‘philanthropy’, ‘compassion’ and ‘empathy’. As well as receiving grant funding, ACF works with a broad base of benefactors including individual donors, public, private and corporate donors and foundations to access funds which are then used to offer interest-free finance to individuals from less privileged communities to start their own business. The repayment of the capital is mutually agreed, based on the affordability, without any element of interest. This helps the new business enterprise to sustain and grow.
“We are pioneering a whole new inclusive business support system,” said Akmal. “The ACF innovative financial model is powered by the generosity – or philanthropy – of the ‘haves’ of society. We connect the ‘haves’ with the ‘have nots’, and by offering targeted professional support to people who are less privileged, who are underrepresented and vulnerable, we are able to transform the ‘beneficiaries of today’ into the ‘benefactors of tomorrow’.
“Our ACF financial model enables the individuals to start their own enterprises and to consider self-employment and entrepreneurship as a viable option, which then allows them to financially empower themselves.”
Akmal said he believed that the model had flourished in Wales due to an inherent culture of support.
“We are leading the international sector in this area,” he said. “I think the ACF model works in Wales because of that culture of support that we have from our mining days. My inspiration has been Aneurin Bevan who set up the NHS in terms of offering support at the time of need, taking away any worry about the money required for treating a health condition. At ACF we have adapted this principle to address the challenges of the financial well-being of our citizens, who can access this business and financial support to start their micro, small and medium enterprises without the worry of access to finance. Our initiative contributes towards achieving the objectives of our Future Generations Act in Wales.
“The ACF model is a global proposition and contributes towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With our headquarters in Wales, our plans are to initiate and replicate this financial model across the world. The key reason of this growing demand is due to the social and economic inequality and divide we see in our cities and towns everywhere.”
Akmal said he believed the ACF initiative offers a comprehensive and equitable solution to address critical global challenges such as financial exclusion, economic and social inequality and poverty eradication, and said this could be achieved by collaboration across all sectors.
“ACF is keen to work with key stakeholders in the business and finance ecosystem and offer expertise in engaging diverse communities and developing appropriate financial products based on understanding of the cultural, social and religious sensitivities,” he said. “Working in collaboration with the corporate sector, the private sector and the public sector, ACF can scale up our proposition and offer support to wider communities nationally and globally – ones which are currently underserved by the major financial institutions in the country.”
