Six Pakistani entrepreneurs graduate from UNCTAD, Alibaba's fellowship

The aim of the fellowship is to bridge the digital divide and to hone young entrepreneurs' skills

Six Pakistani nationals were among 38 Asian entrepreneurs who have successfully completed the fourth edition of the eFounders Fellowship, a joint initiative by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Alibaba Business School.

The aim of this fellowship is to bridge the digital divide and to enable young entrepreneurs with the skills that will help them and encourage them in doing better when it comes to their business.

The six Pakistanis are: Alizeh Gohar from Hunarmund, Nazish Hussain from Secret Stash, Umer Munawar from Finja, Muneeb Maayr from Bykea, Hassaan Sadiq from GrocerApp and Khurram Mir from BookMyUmrah.

According to an official statement, the fellowship included candidates from 11 countries including Pakistan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Phillipines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India and Singapore.



The graduation of the fourth eFounders class also meant that Alibaba was on successful in fulfilling its pledge that Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, made earlier this year. The commitment seeks to empower 1,000 entreprenuers in the developing countries by creating champions for sustainable economic development through digital economy over the next five years.

“This initiative amplifies many of the efforts made by the international community to support digital transformation and innovation for inclusive and sustainable development,” said Arlette Verploegh, UNCTAD eFounders Fellowship programme coordinator.

The new curriculum provided entrepreneurs with first-hand insight on Alibaba’s journey where it started from a small startup to a successful tech giant.



“With exposure to the Alibaba ecosystem and our network of partners, and our role in developing the digital economy of China, we hope the entrepreneurs will discover more ways to build a more inclusive and sustainable model for their own businesses while championing the growth of the digital economy in their markets,” said Brian Wong, vice-president of Alibaba Group, who also heads Alibaba’s Global Initiatives program.

Participants of the fellowship had this opportunity to understand what entrepreneurship means and what Alibaba has in the core since it was founded.

In addition to this, they were also provided with industry trends and developments such as the impact of e-commerce in rural areas while encouraging them to explore how they can share and use their “newly acquired knowledge” with their community back home.