Industrial Promotion Services (IPS) is the infrastructure and industrial development arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, which in turn is a member of the Aga Khan Development Network.
Established in the early 1960s, IPS was created to provide venture capital, technical assistance a… read morend management support to encourage and expand private enterprise in the developing world, particularly countries of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
IPSs emphasis is on the role of the private sector. Through equity investment with partners from both the public and private sectors, IPS identifies projects with strong developmental potential as well as financial viability and works towards building them into companies with lasting institutional strengths with potential for contributing to the long-term development of the national and international communities in which they operate. Its criteria for project design emphasise both technology transfer and local resource use; it seeks to harness both international expertise and local know-how to the task of improving living standards in the developing world.
Over the years, IPS has adjusted its approach to address the development goals of the region through Privatisation, re-orientation from import-substitution towards export promotion, and more recently investment in infrastructure. Currently, IPS within East Africa has over 25 companies across multiple sectors including: industrial printing and packaging, leather tanneries, food and agro-industry, specialized textiles, pharmaceuticals, power and telecommunications and a range of medium sized enterprises.
IPS shareholders in East Africa, currently include institutions such as International Finance Corporation (IFC), Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), East Africa Development Bank and Jubilee Holdings Ltd.
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a group of development agencies with mandates that include the environment, health, education, architecture, culture, microfinance, rural development, disaster reduction, promotion of private-sector enterprise and the revitalisation ofhistoric cities. AKDN agencies conduct their programmes without regard to faith, origin or gender.
The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), a member of the AKDN, is an international development agency dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship and building economically sound enterprises in the developing world. AKFED focuses on building enterprises in parts of the world that lack sufficient foreign direct investment. It also makes bold but calculated investments in situations that are fragile and complex.