Written by: Waseem Abbas
Posted on: January 09, 2023 | 
| 中文
Dr. Amjad Saqib speaking at Akhuwat's flood relief camp
Perhaps besides the late Abdul Sattar Edhi, no other philanthropist in Pakistan is as respected and well-known as Dr. Amjad Saqib. His contributions to the poverty alleviation and socio-economic uplift of Pakistani society are second to none, first as a civil servant and later as the founder of Akhuwat, the world's largest interest-free microfinance program. Akhuwat has disbursed over 180 billion Pakistani rupees (as of March 2022), helping over 5.5 million families come out of poverty in the last twenty-two years.
Muhammad Amjad Saqib, born in 1957 at Kamalia, Punjab, has excelled in all spheres of life since his youth. After completing his early education in his hometown, he passed his intermediate from the prestigious Government College University (GCU) and his MBBS from the King Edward Medical University (KEMU), Lahore. After the completing his MBBS, he qualified for the Central Superior Services (CSS) and served in various districts as Assistant Commissioner. Later, he received the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship and completed his Masters in Public Administration from the American University, Washington D.C. He returned to serve in the Punjab Rural Support Programme (PRSP) and the World Bank-funded Elementary Education Project with the government of Pakistan. He has authored several books, including his autobiography.
Akhuwat Ka Safar, the autobiography of Dr. Amjad Saqib
Dr. Amjad Saqib left civil services and started working as a consultant, eventually ending up founding Akhuwat. Dr. Saqib believes we should work in fields for which we have a passion, and in which we can make a difference in society. Dr. Saqib left his medical career for the civil services, and the civil services for philanthropic activity for this very same reason.
Despite its immense success, Dr. Amjad Saqib believes that Akhuwat is yet to achieve its targets. "When we founded Akhuwat, we aimed to ease difficulties in as many people's lives as we can. We wanted to give the impoverished hope that they are not alone. "Akhuwat’s vision is "a poverty-free society built on the principles of compassion and empathy". Akhuwat works on the unique principle of brotherhood and that "interest-free loans (qarz-e-hassna) are better than charity". Akhuwat’s revenues are generated from civil society, voluntary contributions from the borrowers, and donations from the boards of governors.
Akhuwat’s medical camp in Goth Mohib Ali in Baluchistan
Akhuwat is the world's largest microfinance organization, providing loans to needy people without any interest, and returns in small installments throughout the year. With 857 branches in 400 cities and towns throughout the country, Akhuwat’s microfinance scheme aims at creating a sustainable way out of poverty. Loans are primarily provided for businesses, encouraging entrepreneurship and promoting economic growth in Pakistan. Moreover, Akhuwat finances housing, education, and health facilities as well.
Akhuwat College, Kasur
Akhuwat’s loan application and money disbursement processes are quite straightforward with minimal paperwork, which draws the common people towards Akhuwat offices in large numbers. Akhuwat has succeeded in building trust with the poor, which is evident from their remarkable 99.96 % loan repayment. Moreover, the voluntary contributions from the borrowers amount to 4.5 % of the total loans, which makes Akhuwat also a profit-making organization. One of the stimuli of timely repayments of loans is that only those who complete the loan repayment in the first round, are eligible to get new loans. The repayment schedule is flexible and is mutually decided by the Akhuwat staff and the borrowers, in accordance with the amount of loan and the expected return on the microfinance enterprise.
Besides Microfinance, Akhuwat has expanded its philanthropic activities to the fields of education, health, housing, and minority support as well.
Access to quality education for all has been Dr. Amjad Saqib's main motto, and he has been doing his part in alleviating the educational disparity in Pakistan. Akhuwat organization founded Akhuwat colleges in different parts of the country, providing free education to all students. Upgrading on the success of their colleges, Akhuwat has established Akhuwat University in Kasur, Punjab, the first free residential university in Pakistan. Students can pay back to Akhuwat once their economic condition improves, be it in fifteen years or twenty.
Akhuwat University in Kasur
Akhuwat is partnering with the Prime Minister Housing Scheme to build small houses for the poor on installments. Moreover, it provides affordable healthcare facilities: free lab tests, examinations and providing medicines without charging a penny from the impoverished. Akhuwat also founded Khwajasira (transgender) Support Program in 2011, with the support of Fountain House, to help the Khwajasira community financially by providing assistance loans to them, providing healthcare services and psychological support, and helping them in the acquisition of identity documents in Pakistan.
Christmas celebrations with Christians in Lahore
Dr. Amjad Saqib’s services in poverty alleviation and promoting entrepreneurship have been recognized both nationally and internationally. He was awarded the prestigious Sitara Imtiaz by the government of Pakistan in 2010. Moreover, he was also nominated for Nobel Peace Prize for poverty alleviation in 2022, which he, unfortunately, couldn't win. Dr. Amjad Saqib in his book “Akhuwat Ka Safar” (Akhuwat’s journey) claims that Harvard professor and microfinance expert, Malcolm Harper, was pleasantly surprised that Akhuwat has succeeded despite breaking the conventional rules of microfinance. Probably, its success owes to an unconventional microfinance program that has brotherhood, empathy and compassion at its core, which aims to transform the borrowers into donors.
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