Telenor celebrates fifteen years of empowering Pakistani people

Fifteen years ago, Telenor entered Pakistan with the ambition to empower societies and it kicked off by providing connectivity to the rural and underserved areas of the country. Within five years of its operations, it was able to capture 25 million customers across the country and today it serves over 46 million customers nationwide.

One of the most discussed enabler for countries today is financial inclusion. Telenor Pakistan launched its mobile financial services in 2009 with Easypaisa which has demonstrated how technology can be leveraged to increase financial accessibility. Easypaisa was initially launched as just a money transfer service but now it has empowered the underserved masses of Pakistan and brought convenience on the fingertips. As compared to the year 2009, Pakistan is approximately more than 20% financially inclusive today with almost an equal percentage of active mobile wallet users. This increase has also started bridging the gender gap in financial inclusion.

To enable the largest GDP contributing sector of the country – Agriculture, Telenor Pakistan launched its ‘Khushaal Zamindaar’ service under the mAgri ambit. Since more women are linked with the agri sector, Telenor Pakistan launched Khushaal Aangan, an initiative to empower the women working in agriculture sector. This is an IVR service where women are educated on agriculture, livestock and even family health.

Moreover, Telenor Pakistan has been an advocate of an all-inclusive and equal opportunity work environment for women, and its initiatives like Naya Aghaaz and World Bank’s Girls Learn Women Earn are aimed at the financial inclusion and independence of women.

Pakistan has the lowest birth registration rates in the world. This deprives many children with their fundamental right to identity, thereby beginning a process of exclusion that haunts them throughout their life. Under public-private partnerships, Telenor has launched Digital Birth Registration (DBR) initiative. DBR allows quick, easy and swift registration of newborns, which allows them to attain their fundamental right to identity.

Similarly, empowerment also entails the inclusion of those that are most marginalized – the differently-abled. It is imperative that digital transformation is used for their social and financial uplift, such as their joining the work force. An example is Telenor Pakistan’s Open Mind and Disability Job portal. These initiatives train handicapped persons with various market-oriented skills and provide them with employment based on their expertise.

The youth of today feature prominently when talking about the future. The country’s younger generation has displayed remarkable feats in innovation and technological advancements, along with the existence of a very strong and popular startup culture in the country. This culture also enjoys the support of the government. Telenor Pakistan, with its initiative of Velocity is also contributing to the cause.

As Telenor Pakistan celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, it has a legacy of empowerment and innovation, changing lives of the people of Pakistan for the better.***