Karandaaz Capital has a Supply Chain Finance Program with Meezan Bank focused towards SME sector of Pakistan. With the end goal of promoting access to capital for the SME sector, financing is available for vendors and distributors working closely with leading corporates within the country. Under this program, both long and short term loans are available for SMEs, which are unable to access loans from commercial banks.

In 2017, at the time of expansion, when Makka Distribution Agency, Peshawar required more finances to expand its operations, Unilever facilitated it to acquire finance through Supply Chain Finance Program by Karandaaz and Meezan Bank.

With time the business gained recognition and in 2006, Makka got its first opportunity to enter the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) distribution industry by signing up for Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan’s distribution. Atif Shehzad, the agency’s owner realized the potential of FMCGs and hence changed the name to Makka Agency to cater to more diverse businesses.

Atif, the CEO of Makka Distribution Agency says, “Finance is for a business what blood is for a human body. Karandaaz’s assistance for facilitating the financing via Meezan Bank has been monumental for our expansion and growth. This finance has enabled us to expand our business, distribute for so many companies, extend our fleet, hire more employees and impact so many lives”. Atif further went on to mention that while finding collateral to acquire loans is a challenge, another great challenge for the business is to use the loan effectively.

The expansion reaped great results for Makka Agency; the turnover and number of employees doubled. The annual sales turnover has reached 2 billion rupees and profitability has improved significantly. Before the assistance, there were 150 employees working for Makka Agency. Today, the business has 300 employees resulting in better livelihoods for 300 homes.