Sanzar Kakar is an entrepreneur and business leader. Kakar is the Chairman of AHG, an international professional business services firm.

Education

Kakar attended elementary school at Beaconhouse Public School in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

; middle school at Moundridge Middle School in Moundridge,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

; and high school at International School of Islamabad in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

. Kakar participated or organized a number of

Model United Nations Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. At a MUN conference, students work as the representative of a count ...

conferences around the world, including in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

and Sharm-e-Sheikh. Kakar graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

with a Bachelor of Science in engineering, majoring in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...

engineering and minoring in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

. Kakar worked in New Jersey and New York before moving to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Kakar also completed a master's program at

Warwick Business School Warwick Business School (WBS) is an academic department of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Warwick University, that was established in 1967 as the School of Industrial and Business Studies. The Business School offers undergraduate, postgradu ...

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, graduating with a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

, focusing on entrepreneurship and finance.

Career

Kakar started with Merrill Lynch working as a Technology Analyst to develop software to automatically link to the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

. In 2006, Kakar moved to

to serve as the Investment Associate and then Country Director for Acap Partners, venture capital fund. In 2007, Kakar was appointed as the Executive Advisor to the Attorney General on the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

funded Afghanistan Justice Sector Support Program. Kakar worked to reorganize the Attorney General's Office and created a criminal case management system spanning seven justice institutions in Afghanistan. In late 2008, Kakar served as the Economic Adviser and then Deputy Team Leader for the United Kingdom Department for International Development funded Afghanistan Investment Climate Facility, where he developed operational and fiduciary requirements for the £60 million grant fund. In 2009, Kakar founded Afghanistan Financial Services, which primarily provided taxation services to U.S. Government contractors. The firm was featured on

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

with John Simpson. In 2013, the firm re-branded as Afghanistan Holding Group as it expanded into auditing, research, training and legal services
Kakar was featured
in 2019 on the cover of Afghanistan's business magazine
Business DNA
Kakar has spoken about the need for formal financial markets in Afghanistan, including at the

American University of Afghanistan The American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) ( fa, ; ps, ) is an Afghan private university located in the Darulaman section of Kabul. Most students of AUAF currently live abroad and there are plans to create a new AUAF campus in Qatar in the ...

and at

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

2014. A feasibility study for capital markets was supported by the United States

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

Task Force for Business and Stability Operations The Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO) is a division of the U.S. Department of Defense established in 2006 to stabilize the post-invasion Iraqi economy, reduce unemployment, and attract foreign investors to Iraq. In 2009, TFBSO ...

(TFBSO). Kakar has spoken about the business environment in Afghanistan, including once on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

with

Tom Ashbrook Thomas E. Ashbrook is an American journalist and radio broadcaster. He was formerly the host of the nationally syndicated, public radio call-in program ''On Point'', from which he was dismissed after an investigation concluded he had created a ho ...

and at

2016. Kakar is an advocate for increasing foreign direct investment to Afghanistan, calling for more stability and predictability in the regulatory environment. Between 2015 and 2020, Kakar launched nine additional companies, including Mezan Ltd, Warzish Ltd, Zinzir Ltd, Afghanet Ltd and acquired BusinessDNA Magazine. In 2020, his accountancy company joined as a full member firm of

Moore Global Moore Global (officially Moore Global Network Limited) is a global accountancy, advisory and consulting network of independent firms with its headquarters in London. Moore Global is ranked by the International Accounting Bulletin (IAB) as the 12th ...

. Moore Global is a network of 30,000 professionals across 260 independent firms working in more than 100 countries. Kakar spoke at

about his goal to combine these ventures to dramatically increase employment in

. After the change in Government 15 August 2021, Kakar closed a number of businesses to focus on addressing the humanitarian crisis facing Afghanistan. Over 22.8 million Afghans were facing starvation, including 1 million children. Kakar's HesabPay offered a secure and vetted payment channel to get aid to those that needed it most, at a time when traditional fiat rails were not working due to banks de-risking Afghanistan.

Community service

* Code Weekend * Startup Valley * Startup Weekend * Startup Grind * Afghanistan Business Summit * Founder Institute * Rise Afghanistan * Business Integrity Network Afghanistan * American Chamber of Commerce in Afghanistan

Articles

* For Afghanistan Compliance Requirements" * For Afghanistan Investment and Business Guide" * For Doing Business in Afghanistan * For American Bar Association * For Afghan Zariza Articles * For ACCA Magazine * For American Business Council Dubai

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kakar, Sanzar University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni Living people Alumni of the University of Warwick American people of Pashtun descent Year of birth missing (living people) American emigrants to Afghanistan American expatriates in Pakistan