Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) The National Bank of Pakistan, in line with its vision to become the nation’s leading bank enabling sustainable growth and inclusive development joined hands with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) to offer articleship training to CA students. As a certified Training Organization Outside Practice (TOoP), National Bank of Pakistan is launching this Chartered Accountant training program to help youth engage in a training contract for a three to four year term of Articleship is pursuance of the Chartered Accountant qualification with the ICAP.

With this program, NBP aims to encourage the idea of promoting professional distinction through training and preparation of young financial professions as tomorrow’s visionaries and leaders of the nation. The advantages of this training program include rotated placement of trainees. NBP will also provide a monthly stipend during the trainee contract along with support for deserving trainees through reimbursement of the cost of agreed study material and examination fees. Any student who is CAF passed or equivalent is eligible for this training program. The applications of interested candidates can be emailed https://career.fscpak.com.pk/ and the last deadline of application submission is May 31st 2022.

In the recent years, NBP has made significant progress in its strategy across different businesses and is playing its role in the economy while keeping a strong balance sheet to provide performance for shareholders. The management is dedicated to streamlining the financial institute to attain distinction in business processes and service quality ton clients.

Karachi (Nut Desk) The partnership between Bank Alfalah, one of the largest commercial banks in Pakistan and ACE Money Transfer, a leading online remittance provider, is all set to reach new heights with their latest marketing campaign. Overseas Pakistanis using legal remittance channels to the country will get a chance to win up to six Kia Sportage Alpha SUVs. ACE Transfer and Bank Alfalah, through the launch of the campaign, remain committed to facilitating overseas Pakistanis with fast, secure and convenient remittance options.

As part of this promotional campaign, customers sending remittances between 1st April to 30th June 2022 from the UK, Europe, Switzerland, Canada, and Australia to any Bank Alfalah account or for cash pickup at any of the 790 Alfalah branches across Pakistan will be eligible to win one of the six brand new KIA Sportage Alpha.

Mr Rashid Ashraf, CEO of ACE Money Transfer said, “Pakistan remains a key payout corridor for us, and we are excited to continue our partnership with Bank Alfalah. Today’s customer is always on the lookout for a solution that provides security, convenience and saves them time. With Bank Alfalah’s vast network of branches across the country and state of the art technology, we are able to provide seamless money transfer to millions of Pakistanis living around the globe.”

“Inward remittance is one of the backbone of Pakistan and Bank Alfalah is working persistently for its continuous growth” said Saad Ur Rahman Khan, Group Head – Corporate, Investment Banking & International Business of Bank Alfalah. “We offer innovative and convenient solutions to our customers, and encourage them to remit money through legal channels. This promotional campaign will reward our valued customers for sending remittance though ACE Money Transfer.”

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) The World Economic Forum held the EDISON Alliance Champions Deputies & Executive Network Meeting to discuss the 2022 roadmap, share commitments and initiatives, as well as calls for action to scale partnerships prior to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting scheduled to take place in Davos in the last week of May. The EDISON Alliance provides a platform for partnership between governments, industries, and people to advance digital inclusion as a foundation for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

While private sector-led, it is the result of collaboration between financial inclusion industry leaders, governments and international organizations, who together formed an industry-led working group on financial inclusion. Mr. Salman Ali, CEO of VRG (Virtual Remittance Gateway) participated in the meeting along with Mr. Ali Shah Asani (CEO iPath) and reaffirmed VRG’s commitment to bring 50 million or about 40% of Pakistan’s adult population under the financial ambit by 2024 through successful partnerships in the public sector. Asaan ‘Easy’ Mobile Account is a revolutionary initiative undertaken by the State Bank of Pakistan and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, under Pakistan’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy. The scheme was mandated to Virtual Remittance Gateway (Pvt) Ltd, a member of the Pathfinder Group of Companies in 2017. Asaan Mobile Account Scheme (“AMA”) works on the USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) technology and the platform is accessible from any phone in the country by dialing a universal code *2262#.

Geared towards the unbanked population the service can be accessed using a basic feature phone on any telecom service provider as no Internet or application is required. Therefore, every Pakistani has the accessibility to instantly open a bank account and undertake financial transactions on the go. The Platform enables instant account opening by interconnecting all Telecom players with all Branchless Banks, whereas with seamless integration with NADRA (National Database and Registration Authority) and Pakistan MNP Database enables bariks to instantaneously authenticate mobile connection against customer provided identity credentials along with the retrieval of KYC (Know Your Customer) data from NADRA which is processed to open an account in under a minute.

The service has received an overwhelming response and has gained tremendous momentum in the country since its soft launch on 13th December, 2021. AMA gained 4 million+ customers on the platform who have performed transactions amounting over $166 million in the first 4 months since launch. With the launch of RAAST, SBP’s Instant Payment System, and with AMA the State Bank of Pakistan has a dynamic-duo, to set a staunch foothold in the enablemen,t access of affordable, dependable and cost-effectivedigital financial payment services to the masses. A tremendous feat achieved by bringing together the best in digital payment services on the fingertips of the common man. Both schemes can together provide the channel to enable a multitude of payment services, beginning from P2P (Person-to-Person)to merchant payments, and paving the way for advanced services such as micro-loans, small value international remittances, G2P (Government-to ­ Person) disbursements etc.

It was a great honor for VRG to participate in this meeting of the World Economic Forum and it was indicated that because of the VRG platform WEF will seriously consider to make one of the LIGHTHOUSE countries of the financial inclusion focus area. This would be a great honor for Pakistan to be considered in the forefront of Financial Inclusion technology and recognized this great public-private partnership.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Zong, Pakistan’s digital services frontrunner, and Huawei have joined hands with the Akhuwat-(World’s Largest Interest Free Micro Finance Organization with poverty alleviating interventions in MicroFinance, Education and more), to help promote digital education in Pakistan and introduce the less privileged students to the modern ways of learning. Under the partnership, Zong in collaboration with Huawei will be donating 200 tablets to Akhuwat Education Services to make digital education for the less privileged students accessible across Pakistan, including the far-flung areas of Sindh. Through high-tech studios facilities, interactive content, highly qualified teachers, a team of academic and IT professionals and the tablets donated, Akhuwat will be leading the mission of digitally imparting quality learning. “As an organization that places a huge emphasis on the well-being of the underprivileged strata of the society, Zong 4G has always stepped forward to integrate them in the modern and digital society of today,” Zong 4G’s spokesperson said. “With digitization being on top of our agenda, we’re pleased to have partnered with Akhuwat Foundation and are glad to have a chance to help Pakistan’s underprivileged youth get introduced to advanced ways of learning,” she added. Deputy CEO Huawei Pakistan, Mr. Wuhan reiterated the sentiment, stating, “At the heart of the Huawei ethos is our belief in openness and knowledge-sharing. We are committed to supporting the development of an ICT talent ecosystem in Pakistan and very happy to aid Akhuwat Foundation, in collaboration with Zong 4G, in this endeavor.” Huawei’s aim is to openly collaborate with the public and private sectors to create an ICT ecosystem which drives forward digital transformation. Zong believes that Akhuwat Foundation has all the means to establish and deliver a nationwide e-learning platform which will be free to access. NJV Government School in Karachi is going to be the transmission center of this e-learning project. Classes will be conducted by highly qualified teachers and will be streamed live to students all over the country. Students who can’t afford such advanced learning will benefit greatly from this initiative. The partnership initially targets 200 students belonging to the remote areas of Sindh, hosting online classes for grades VI to XII. Training on usage of these devices and connecting with Akhuwat’s LMS (Learning Management System) will be provided to students/parents by Akhuwat. Zong is leading the country’s ICT-powered digital transformation and is geared to digitize the educational landscape of Pakistan, especially in the wake of Covid-19 which brought the wide digital divide to light in Pakistan. Zong’s support for Akhuwat Foundation in its mission of ending social inequality is just one instance of Zong’s commitment to Pakistan. Akhuwat, World’s largest interest free micro finance organization and one of the leaders in alleviating poverty through quality education, believes that a hybrid style quality education is the need of today in nurturing the students coming from less privileged backgrounds. Exposing them to the technological tools of today’s learning environment, gives these students a fighting chance to stand at par with everyone else and nurture them to be future leaders in their respective fields. The Huawei tablets will greatly facilitate in NJV School’s objective to impart hybrid style Free of Cost Quality education to the students coming from rural areas of Sindh. These tablets will greatly improve the students’ technological skills, enable them to access apps that promote learning along with research and the accessing of LMS. Above all prepare them for more technological advancements years down the road. Zong is leading the country’s ICT-powered digital transformation and is geared to digitize the educational landscape of Pakistan, especially in the wake of Covid-19 which brought the wide digital divide to light in Pakistan. Zong’s support for Akhuwat Foundation in its mission of ending social inequality is just one instance of Zong’s commitment to Pakistan.

Lahore (Nut Desk) Karandaaz Pakistan, following its mandate of promoting access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized businesses through a double bottom line investment platform, announced an equity investment of PKR 600 million in National Rural Support Programme (NRSP)’s subsidiary Agriculture Processing Company Limited (APCL). This investment will help APCL scale up warehousing, financial inclusion, and the incidence of rural industrialization, particularly for small-holding farmers.

The investment made in October 2020 helped NRSP APCL install rice processing capacity of 40,000 tons of paddy per annum and expand the warehousing capacity of 5,250 tons to 20,000 tons. In 2021, NRSP APCL became the first accredited warehouse of the country to issue electronic warehouse receipts. During the current season the facility issued electronic warehouse receipts for 3,000 tons of paddy.

As a result of Karandaaz investment in NRSP APCL, farmer income has increased as market imperfections caused by Aarti commission and inefficient weight measurement practices are eliminated, cost of capital via access to warehouse receipt finance are reduced, and seasonal arbitrage ensure better, competitive prices for farmers at the time of harvest. NRSP APCL’s exports are worth USD 1,076,250 as of March 2022. Speaking about the vision behind setting up the facility, Dr. Rashid Bajwa, Chairman NRSP APCL explained, “Pakistan employs 45% of its labor force in agriculture but agriculture’s share in GDP remains a mere 21%. This is because major crops are mostly produced by subsistence farmers with low yield. Low yields are associated with a vicious sort of generational bondage relationship between small farmers and Aartis (whole sellers) who often charge hidden / high interest rates on in kind financing of unbranded and low-quality input supplies, compelling farmers to make distress sales at low prices.

NRSP established NRSP APCL as a for-profit subsidiary to demonstrate the significance of investing in back-to-back value chain wherein the small and landless farmers are provided farm inputs such as credit, seed, fertilizer, advisory, and postharvest opportunities to decide whether to store or sell their crop at competitive rates to their advantage. The ecosystem approach not only helps the farmers in increasing per acre yield but also enables them to increase their incomes. The entire value chain model ensures genetic and geographical traceability.” Speaking about the significance of Karandaaz investment in APCL, Mr. Navid Goraya, Chief Investment Officer, Karandaaz said, “Issue of timely, easy, and favorable access to finance is a big constraint for small farmers. Warehouse receipt financing is a novel instrument in Pakistan’s context that has the potential to thread small farmers, processors, and the financial sector; enabling them to earn financial and social returns that have been previously nonexistent in agricultural value chains.

Karandaaz’s partnership with NRSP APCL, which in turn has introduced a warehouse receipt financing programme with Naymat Collateral, is helping eliminate price anomalies and traditional practices prevalent in the mandi system, mostly contrary to the interests of growers. With electronic warehouse receipt regime, farmers have an alternate avenue to access formal financing and evade the hassle of conventional pass book lending. Mr. Navid also indicated a possibility to enhance the existing storage and processing capacity of the plant in near future.

Karandaaz is the implementation partner of the Enterprise and Asset Growth Programme (EAGR) of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) with a mandate to improve access to appropriate financial services for micro, small and medium enterprises and translating this into higher economic benefits for state, poor, and marginalised groups, in Pakistan. Explaining the reasons for Karandaaz to partner with NRSP APCL, Mr. Waqas ul Hasan, CEO Karandaaz said, “Eighty (80%)[1] of the world’s poor live in rural areas and work mainly in farming. This important agricultural infrastructure set up by NRSP to provide storage, process, and warehouse receipt finance facility is playing the role of a game changer for rice growers of the region and helping transition them to be formalized agri-businesses and we are happy to be their partners in this. In Pakistan, it is estimated that post-harvest losses for grains are 15-18 percent; while around 25-40 percent of the produce is lost in case of fruits and vegetables [2].

Besides the lost economic potential of the wasted produce, this is an important issue for the country to address from the food security point of view. 

Karachi (Nut Desk) Driven by continued and targeted investments of PKR 36.99 Billion across the power value chain, key operational indicators showed positive growth over comparative period. However, despite showing consistent improvement in reduction of transmission and distribution losses of 1.5%, and driving an increase in the units sent out by 2.8%, KE’s net profitability declined by 84% to settle at PKR 1.5 billion in relation to last year’s PKR 9.44 billion. The impact of KE’s operational performance was set-off by negative impact of Pakistani rupees’ substantial devaluation in the international currency market resulting in exchange loss of PKR 4 billion in comparison to last year’s gain of PKR 1.2 billion along with an increase in financing cost by PKR 1.4 billion due to increase in effective rate of borrowing and Mid-term review (MTR) decision.

As of March 31st 2022, KE’s net receivables from various Federal and Provincial government entities stood at PKR 53 billion on principal basis. Delays in reconciliation and release of legitimate payments from these entities are severely affecting the Company’s cashflow position and ability to further accelerate investment in key power infrastructure. Further, on March 01, 2022, NEPRA issued its decision on KE’s MYT Mid-Term Review, wherein NEPRA made a downward adjustment of PKR 0.22/kWh on the utility’s determined tariff and disallowed an additional investment of PKR 138 billion by KE to improve on its services including power supply and reliability.

An important update for this quarter is the finalization and deployment of KE’s 900 MW RLNG-based power project, BQPS-III. The first Unit of 450 MW proceeded with its mandatory testing in March 2022 as well as synchronization with KE’s Grid, and is now in the final testing stages before commissioning.

KE has also upgraded its infrastructure in its service areas to keep pace with and facilitate the economic growth in the city’s peri and suburban regions. Aside from rehabilitation, the grids in Winder are being enhanced and the 66kV line upgraded to 132 kV along with commissioning new lines to improve transmission capacity and reliability in the region. Additionally, to improve on capacity and systemic reliability, 6 new power transformers have been integrated into the network to ensure reliable power supply to consumers across Karachi.

On the distribution front, the Company continued to make strides on its loss reduction efforts. Over 200,000 KG of illegal hooks (Kunda) have been eliminated from the system in the first 9 months of the current fiscal year, and a total of 800 Pole Mounted Transformers have been converted to Aerial Bundled Cables (ABC), with around 125,000 new connections installed. Furthermore, to focus on customer centricity, 17 additional ‘Customer Facilitation Centers’ have been deployed to facilitate our customer’s billing inquiries.

In line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG7), KE has signed an MoU with Sindh Energy Department (SED) and the World Bank (WB) for the establishment of solar projects with 350MW capacity. This tri-partite collaboration is set to add another 700 GWh to KE’s total clean energy supply and off-set 300-350 kilotons per annum of carbon emissions. KE has also partnered with Akhuwat and donated PKR 7.5 million as interest free microfinance loans to households for the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems within the service territory of the Company.

Aside from sustainable development, KE is heavily invested in empowering individuals and communities. After the success of the first cohort of the Roshni Baji Neighborhood Women Ambassador Programme, an expanded batch of 60 women were inducted in November 2021. They will be on field for nine months across Karachi’s most densely populated neighborhoods. By the end of March 2022, the Roshni Bajis held discussions on safety and legal connections with over 210,000 households, bridging the gap between the utility and a key demographic of women consumers in Karachi. Separately, 11 women from the first batch of the programme have been hired as KE female Meter Data Maintenance Officers (MDMO). This programme has received international recognition at the S&P Global Platts, under the Global Energy Award. This is also the first time for an energy company in Pakistan to receive the coveted award and recognition.

In line with KE’s commitment towards safety, the Company initiated a comprehensive plan to revalidate the safety parameters on its High-Tension and Low-Tension network with the goal to improve on network resilience and uphold public safety; with 99% of project completion achieved. Furthermore, KE’s HSEQ department conducted extensive Behavior Safety Management sessions for field staff to inculcate a culture of safety across the company.

KE continues to engage with stakeholders on finalization and execution of the Power Purchase Agency Agreement (PPAA) and Interconnection Agreement (ICA) for supply of 2,050 MW to KE from the National Grid along with a Tariff Differential Subsidy Agreement (TDS) for timely release of subsidy which will streamline the process for the utility and relieve the pressure on the company’s financial viability.

The Company also remains engaged with Government entities for an amicable resolution to the issue of historic receivables and payables in accordance with law as well as with NEPRA to expedite the determination of pending quarterly tariff variations including costs in lieu of recovery loss for the period FY 2017 to FY 2021 claimed as per the mechanism provided by NEPRA in KE’s MYT. A sustainable resolution to these issues and timely approvals remains critical for Company’s sustainability and execution of planned investment.