01
Market Systems
Development
Understanding the relationships, incentives and barriers that shape opportunity. Connecting local context with approaches that make markets more inclusive.
Strategy. Story. Transformation.
Building Bridges
Between Markets,
Communication
and Technology.
Over the years, I’ve worked on developing market systems, communication and brand strategies, and digital solutions. I bring together market insights, creative thinking, and technology to help businesses grow, brands stand out, and organisations build stronger connections and deliver value.
Rooted in context. Driven by possibility.
Market Systems Development
Strategic Communications
Digital Transformation
01 / A little perspective
Big-picture thinking.
Grounded in people.
I’m Abrar, a development professional working at the intersection of market systems development, strategic communications and brand building. I explore how markets evolve, businesses grow and ideas turn into opportunities.
From strengthening market linkages to building brands and shaping compelling narratives, I bring people, markets and opportunities together. My approach combines a practical understanding of development programmes with clear communication and a curiosity about digital transformation.
02 / Areas of expertise
Three disciplines.
One connected approach.
At the intersection of how markets work,
how ideas travel and how change happens.
Market Systems
02
Strategic
Communications
Turning complex ideas into clear narratives. Helping organisations find their voice, communicate their value and build meaningful connections.
03
Digital
Transformation
Exploring how technology can strengthen systems and unlock access. Keeping people, practical adoption and lasting value at the centre of digital change.
03 / Professional experience
Connecting markets.
Communicating possibility.
My experience covers strategic communications, market systems development and digital transformation, including programme communications, market-driven interventions and technology-enabled solutions that improve programme delivery.
Working with public, private and nonprofit organisations has given me a practical understanding of how markets function, how businesses grow and how clear communication brings market actors and institutions together.
Discuss a collaboration →01
Market Systems Development
Designing and delivering market systems development interventions under Sida’s Livelihoods Improvement for Women and Youth (LIWAY) programme.
02
Strategic Communications
Implementing communications initiatives for the UK Aid-funded Private Enterprise Programme Ethiopia (PEPE).
03
Digital Transformation
Supporting digital innovation and technology-driven solutions to strengthen programme implementation, data management, and operational efficiency.
04 / Portfolio
Organisations & collaborations.
Over the years, I have had the opportunity to contribute to major donor-funded programmes supported by Sida, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, UK Aid and the Mastercard Foundation. My journey has taken me across market systems development, strategic communications and digitalisation, from implementing communications initiatives for the UK Aid-funded Private Enterprise Programme Ethiopia (PEPE), implemented by DAI, to designing and delivering market systems development and digital interventions under Sida’s Livelihoods Improvement for Women and Youth (LIWAY) programme, implemented by Mercy Corps. I have also had the opportunity to work with organisations such as RYRUID Uganda, Rift Valley Institute, and JICA, supporting programme marketing and communications initiatives.
DAI
Mercy Corps
RYRUID Uganda
JaRco Consulting
Rift Valley Institute
JICA
ProgrammeS
I have contributed to programmes supported by Sida, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, UK Aid and the Mastercard Foundation.
05 / Insights
A space for
the next question.
Published thinking on the systems and shifts shaping opportunity.
Can AI Itself Be Considered a Market Systems Intervention?
Over the years working around Market Systems Development (MSD), one question has continued to come back: how do we help markets work better, not just for businesses that are…
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Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Market Systems Development Programs
AI has been a buzzword these days, and almost everything is becoming supported by AI. From business operations to communication and decision-making, AI is entering many parts of our…
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AgTech at the Intersection of Market Systems Programs in Ethiopia
From teff fields in the highlands to vegetable farms supplying urban markets, millions of families depend on agriculture for income and stability. Yet despite its central role, agricultural markets…
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The Digital Leap at the Intersection of Market Systems Development and Financial Inclusion
There are three common words in the current development sector that have been widely used: Market Systems Development (MSD), Financial Inclusion, and Digitalization. Each of these ideas is important…
Read article06 / Start a conversation
Good things begin
with a conversation.
Have a market development or strategic communication challenge or an idea worth exploring? Let’s talk about what we could build together.
Building Bridges Between Markets, Communication and Technology.
Strategy · Communications · Digital