For more than 50 years, the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED)* has sought to create the foundations of economic growth. To that end, along with its partners, it makes bold but calculated investments in situations that are fragile and complex, or lack sufficient foreign direct investment, or require investments that go beyond commercial norms. Many of these project companies, such as large hydropower plants, were created to overcome impediments to national or regional progress; others encompassed essential goods and services ranging from banking and anti-malaria pharmaceuticals in Uganda to a hotel and a mobile phone network in Afghanistan. As a development agency, AKFED’s ethos is very different from a commercial entity. Its aim is to create ethical and self-sustaining enterprises that stimulate job growth, support entrepreneurial activity and contribute to overall economic output. Its project companies do seek to generate profits to become self-sustainable, but all profits are reinvested in further development under the AKDN umbrella.