About the #BreakingBarriersAtWork Series
IFC teams often work on particularly complex development projects, facing major challenges and obstacles, especially in some of the world's most fragile places. In this new series, we share how they are #BreakingBarriersAtWork, often against all odds, highlighting their approaches and sharing lessons that can also be useful to others. The focus of this initial round of stories is on manufacturing, agribusiness, and services in the Middle East, Central Asia, Türkiye, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
About Hina
Hina Karamat Ejaz, a Senior Investment Officer in IFC’s Pakistan office, shares her inspirational story and explains why she sees each barrier as an opportunity to reach new heights.
Hina is the first woman in her extended family to work. Encouraged by her mother to enter the finance sector, she set a goal early on to find a job through which she could have significant impact, particularly in Pakistan as well as other developing countries.
She joined IFC in 2017, after spending more than a decade working in the banking sector. Today, she is responsible for developing new business, processing investments and building partnerships.
A mother-of-two, she has also sets the example for her two younger sisters and encourages them to pursue their studies and biggest dreams.
The Barrier
The private sector in Pakistan has significant potential to shape the country’s future, especially in boosting trade, creating jobs, and driving innovation. But over the past three years, Pakistan has faced a tough mix of macroeconomic challenges, including surging inflation, a balance of payments crisis, and recurring political instability.
These pressures have been layered on top of deeper, long-standing issues like unpredictable and slow growth, rising poverty levels, and extreme climate events, like the devastating floods of 2022.
Hina says this has been a difficult environment for businesses. With prices rising, supply chains under pressure, and consumer demand fluctuating, many companies have been focused on staying afloat rather than growing or innovating.
Access to finance, in particular, has been a real challenge – making it harder for businesses to invest, expand, or take risks.
“Out of 3.2 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan, only 180,000 have access to formal credit.”
The challenge is further compounded by the limited long-term financing options available from local and international banks, hindering businesses from scaling their operations and staying competitive in regional and global markets.
Hina’s Approach
“The challenging environment gives stimulus to think creatively and design win-win solutions for boosting access to finance.”
Hina and the broader IFC team in Pakistan realized they needed to think creatively to bridge the financing gap in Pakistan. By collaborating closely with client companies and banks, they developed a first-of-its kind solution that arranges competitively priced local currency financing by offering a partial credit guarantee (PCG) to mitigate potential losses and bridge liquidity gaps.
Hina believes this initiative demonstrates IFC’s unique ability to collaborate and build partnerships with banks, companies, and development finance institutions to develop innovative financial products that offer targeted solutions and support key sectors of the economy.
She adds that when designing this solution, her team focused not only on addressing immediate access to finance constraints but also on exploring holistic solutions that would boost productivity, strengthen supply chains, and create jobs in the country.
“We had to be creative and think ahead. This meant examining wider market challenges and looking at how we can drive private sector led growth that supports inclusive and sustainable development in the country.”
The Takeaway
Hina believes that perseverance is essential to break any barrier. She also believes that listening to all stakeholders and understanding their points of view is essential to think proactively and find the most creative, holistic solutions.
“Optimism serves as the driving force for breaking barriers in challenging environments. For this, you have to keep your eyes on the stars, feet on the ground, and work tirelessly towards the end goal.”
Interview by Bilal Kobeissi