The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) carries out these Network activities in economic development. It looks for projects with development potential as well as financial viability and works to build them into companies with lasting institutional strengths. Its criteria for project design emphasize both technology transfer and local resource use; it seeks to harness both international experience and local know-how to the task of improving living standards in the developing world.

AKFED's approach emphasizes the importance of equity investment and partnerships in economic development. Through equity investment with partners from both the public and private sectors, it builds commitment to the long-term viability of projects in the third world. Collaboration with other international development agencies and with industrial leaders enables it to link foreign expertise and capital with local private initiative. AKFED's projects are designed to reach high standards of quality in technical achievement and in management. As in other areas of Network activity, the goal is to build strong institutions: capable of high performance, and contributing to the long-term development of the national, regional and international communities in which they operate.

AKFED's involvement in economic development includes the promotion of enabling environments for private sector enterprise in the third world. It does this through collaborative ventures bringing together private and public investors, and through the encouragement of legislative and fiscal structure favourable to private sector development.

AKFED provides an institutional umbrella for three groups of companies: Industrial Promotion Services, Tourism Promotion Services and a number of financial institutions in Africa and Asia.