June 2017—A year after graduating from Kabul University, Mohammad Yasin Paktin had gone on numerous interviews, but had yet to land a job. When interviewers asked him to show his practical skills with financial software, most often QuickBooks, he couldn’t do it.

“In the university, there was no chance of practical work in financial software,” he says.

Then he heard about Fanoos Accounting Co.’s QuickBooks training. Fanoos had just completed a public–private alliance with USAID’s Assistance in Building Afghanistan by Developing Enterprises (ABADE) project, which equipped the company’s classrooms with modern furniture, new laptops and licenses for accounting software.

Fanoos’s QuickBooks training courses for newly graduated university students allowed Paktin to learn this highly marketable skill. He enrolled in a 40-day course in 2016 and completed it with high scores on the final exam.

Many companies were in contact with Fanoos looking to hire successful graduates of their practical courses, and Fanoos introduced Paktin to a computer sales company in need of an accountant. After he passed their written test and demonstrated practical work in QuickBooks, the company hired him.

“Since I joined the company, we have prepared a proper filing and accounting system,” said Paktin, who is using his salary to support his sister and brother through middle school and saving a part for his own Master’s Degree.

ABADE is a four-year project set to conclude in October 2016. Its mandate is to support small- and medium-sized enterprise growth through investments in capital equipment, consulting services and training. Since 2012, the project has formed successful investment partnerships with almost 300 businesses across Afghanistan, paving the way for the creation of more than 9,000 jobs.

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