News Update Times

OPPO A96 goes on Sale with Long-Lasting Battery, OPPO Glow Design, and Enduring Quality

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) OPPO announced the OPPO A96 that is available in stores and digital channels in Pakistan. OPPO A96 is equipped with a robust 5000mAh long-lasting battery and 33W SUPERVOOC_TM flash charging that ensures a smooth experience, these features are complemented by the OPPO Glow Design that allows the phone to be scratch and fingerprint resistant. OPPO A96’s 6.59-inch 90Hz Colour-Rich Punch-Hole Display with 96% NTSC wide color gamut that is managed by the OPPO’s self-developed Adaptive Refresh Rate Technology promises to deliver an immersive viewing experience. Available now nationwide for PKR 41,999/-

 Stylish Design that Delights and Captivates

The OPPO Glow Design manufacturing process selects the best diamond-cut glass panel and places in a vacuum to compress the crystal pattern to create an eye-catching, smooth, anti-fingerprint and dirt-proof texture. This gives the OPPO A96 its 3D thin center frame form factor in 2 magnificent color options: Starry Black, Sunset Blue.

OPPO A96 features a 6.59-inch 90Hz Colour-Rich Punch-Hole Display with 90.8% screen-to-body ratio and 1080×2412 FHD resolution. The bump up in refresh rate is managed by OPPO’s Adaptive Refresh Rate Technology, OPPO’s self-developed technology for LCD screens, which auto-regulates the screen refresh rate based on what the user is doing, ensuring better smoothness while keeping power usage down. All-day AI Eye Comfort enhances the screen visibility in bright or dim environments based on the levels of ambient light. The display has also been upgraded to cover a 96% NTSC wide color gamut. Equivalent to 100% DCI-P3, the display now covers more of the color spectrum, making image colors even truer, richer, and more captivating.

By moving the fingerprint sensor to the side for quicker unlock access, OPPO A96 is able to adopt a 3D Thin Center Frame for a slimmer and more premium look and feel.

 5000mAh Long-Lasting Battery and 33W SUPERVOOCTM for Effortless Experience

The 5000mAh (typical) battery gives users the necessary battery power to stay connected. The battery allows users to text on WhatsApp for up to 15 hours while 33W SUPERVOOCTM fast charging gives users more flexibility with a 30-minute charge providing 55% of battery power. In addition, OPPO has made great strides in improving the battery usage efficiency with features such as Super Power Saving Mode based on the power-saving strategies, such as CPU frequency adjustment and backlight regulation that adopts on specific apps to extend battery life. OPPO A96 also features Optimized Night Charging, which allows the phone’s AI to learn the user’s sleep patterns and schedule a segmented battery charging plan during the nighttime.

Reliable Performance for an Enduring Experience

Powered by the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 680 4G Mobile Platform, OPPO A96 delivers an exceptionally smooth user experience with the 8GB + 128GB large memory and storage. This is complemented by RAM Expansion which gives the OPPO A96 an extra boost to performance and storage, meaning better multi-tasking and smoother experience, and extra storage via SD cards expansion to preserve more photos and videos.

A great audio experience is central to calling and entertainment. Dual speakers and microphones on OPPO A96 produce high volume stereo audio while reducing ambient noise. The high-fidelity Dirac HD audio technology makes viewing experience more immersive.

Powerful Camera System for Versatile Portrait Experience

OPPO A96 carries a 16MP Front Camera, producing gorgeous portrait shots. Features such as AI Natural Retouching includes blemish removal while still preserving the user’s natural facial features. Portrait shots are now brighter and clearer in dim environments with the help of the 360° Fill Light feature.

The rear-facing dual camera setup features a 50MP Rear Camera with high photosensitivity and high pixel count, and a 2MP Bokeh Camera, allowing users to use Portrait Mode to capture photos with the precise and natural bokeh effects. The rear camera also supports 5x digital zoom and up to 20 continuous burst shots.

Additional camera features such as AI Palette, Neon Portrait, Flash Snapshot, and Selfie HDR to deliver even more versatility to users as they shoot in different scenarios.

ColorOS 11.1 for Intuitive Software Experience

ColorOS 11.1 on OPPO A96 makes the entire user experience effortless and efficient with fluidity, ease of use, and performance at the core of its functionality.  System optimization software features such as System Booster and Link Boost 2.0 ensure high-level system performance and connectivity smoothness. Bullet Screen Message minimizes the disruptions from calls or notifications while users are engaging in a game, meaning message information will scroll across the screen as floating windows to minimize the disruption. Privacy features are also a core tenant of ColorOS, with Private Safe and APP Lock offering users the ability to keep their private data and apps secure. Anti-peeping for Notifications gives the front camera the ability to detect anyone close by and intelligently protects user information by hiding notification content.Air Gestures are now available on OPPO A96, which include non-touch sliding gestures to move the screen up or down, swiping up to answer calls, or static palm gestures to silence calls.

Market Availability

OPPO A96 is now available in Pakistan, with two stunning colors in Starry Black and Sunset Blue with 8GB + 128GB variant. The phone will be available for purchase at a retail price of PKR 41,999/- at Daraz and in stores nationwide.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) AkzoNobel Pakistan Ltd, a leading global manufacturer of paints and coatings, announced the construction of a new manufacturing plant in Pakistan.

The integrated paints and coatings plant will be located at the Allama Iqbal Industrial City in Faisalabad, Pakistan. The facility will span 25 acres and is scheduled to start operations in 2023.

With agile manufacturing, the new manufacturing plant shall allow AkzoNobel to be more competitive in the market. Designed to deliver a planned year-on-year expansion in production volumes over the next five years, this shall support AkzoNobel Pakistan Ltd. in realizing its growth ambitions for Pakistan with more speed.

“Under our global mid-term business strategy, AkzoNobel is committed to grow in Pakistan. Since 2020, AkzoNobel has been consolidating its position in the Pakistan market with the ongoing share buy-back of USD 16 mn (PKR 2.75 bn) via Foreign Direct Investment. The new manufacturing facility at Faisalabad is the next step to grow on our strong foundation. With the biggest investment of AkzoNobel in Pakistan till date, the new facility is a true vote of confidence in this market’s growth potential,” said Mubbasher Omar, Chief Executive Officer, AkzoNobel Pakistan Limited.

Adding on this, Mubabasher said, “We foresee strong growth in the paints and coatings business in Pakistan. This green-field expansion in the strategic industrial hub of Faisalabad strengthens AkzoNobel Pakistan’s commitment to serve its diversified performance coatings and decorative paints customer base today. It will also act as a tailwind to our ambitions to meet the growing market demand in the future.”

The new civil infrastructure in the plant will allow for a redesign of the production flow to deliver increased safety, efficiency and better product handling during manufacturing.

Leading sustainable business in Pakistan

 At AkzoNobel, our purpose – People. Planet. Paint. is integrated into every action we take and guides our approach to sustainable business. We are the first paint and coatings company to receive Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) approval for our goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 across the full value chain.

As a responsible corporate citizen, AkzoNobel Pakistan is driving sustainable business forward by offering more sustainable paint solutions to customers and minimizing its environmental footprint. Our new manufacturing facility at Faisalabad prioritizes sustainability. This will include, green energy generation through solar panels, waste-water treatment, design optimization to reduce energy consumption to name a few.

 

• Fifth-annual Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) findings demonstrate the resilience of women entrepreneurs across 65 economies despite disproportionate challenges during Covid-19 pandemic.
•  Six economies in MENA have recorded progress in their MIWE scores, although work remains on women’s representation in business ownership and leadership, as well as female financial inclusion.

 

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Mastercard has revealed the fifth-annual Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) exploring the progress of women entrepreneurs in 65 economies around the world, representing 82.4% of the global female labor force. Across the entrepreneurial landscape, women are one of the global economy’s most valuable assets. However, whilst they make up half of the world’s population, women own only a fifth of its exporting companies and 80% of women-owned businesses with credit needs are either unserved or underserved. Furthermore, the contribution of women to the wider economy is significantly underrepresented in reports and indices on startups and economic conditions.

Although work remains across the Middle East and North Africa in encouraging and supporting women entrepreneurs, some progress has been recorded. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Algeria and Lebanon are among the economies that have received a higher ranking in the latest report (MIWE 2021) compared to MIWE 2020. Out of the 65 economies studied, only a dozen around the world recorded an increase in the indicator “Women’s Entrepreneurial Activity Rate” – with Algeria, Bulgaria, Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia among these.

“It’s crucial that we focus on sustainable, inclusive growth in order to boost economic recovery across Middle East and North Africa – and that can only happen if we empower women entrepreneurs and support women-owned businesses. We must double our efforts in this part of the world to ensure we can reap the potential of women’s participation, The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs helps us to identify both the challenges and opportunities, as well as the progress and improvements, to guide all stakeholders on the necessary future support needed. The digital economy remains a key opportunity, and by connecting women entrepreneurs to digital tools, training and insights, we can collectively ensure that they are part of building and benefiting from future prosperity,” said Khalid Elgibali, Division President – Middle East and North Africa, Mastercard.

Women’s employment rose in 14 of the economies assessed by the latest MIWE edition, but data from the International Labour Organization shows women’s employment declining 5% compared to 3.9% for men worldwide in 2020. Despite global efforts over the last two years to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, COVID-19 has had a disproportionate effect on women. This threatens to roll back decades of progress towards attaining gender parity in the workplace and in business, adding another 36 years to the estimated time it will take to close the global gender gap (World Economic Forum – The Global Gender Gap Report 2021). So far, 61% of the gender gap has been closed in MENA, and but at current progress, it will take another 142 years to reach parity.

The United States, New Zealand, and Canada headed the ranking of global economies, propelled by strong scores across all three components: women’s advancement outcomes, knowledge assets and financial access. These economies continue to furnish the conditions required to facilitate women’s access to financial support and services as well as their ability to start, operate and thrive in entrepreneurial activities. Women command a strong share of business ownerships, driven by favorable conditions such as high quality of governance, positive social and cultural attitude, and vibrant entrepreneurial dynamism. 

Despite the challenging environment, women have proven to be resilient entrepreneurs, surpassing men in terms of entrepreneurial activity in 10 economies including Saudi Arabia, overall showing that the entrepreneurial spirit sees opportunity every day to reimagine, refresh and reinvent – a defining factor for women’s success in business since long before the latest crisis. Continuing to create the right social, political and financial understanding and conditions for this entrepreneurial spirit to realize its success is of singular importance for future economic growth.

Progress in Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, the strong rise in ‘Female Opportunity Driven Entrepreneurship’ was likely spurred by various factors such as a general increase in ‘Perceived Business Opportunities’ that may have been triggered by the pandemic. This is encouraging as it points to entrepreneurial optimism and the ability to respond to crisis situations. The report notes that reforms and government support have contributed to empowering and motivating women economically and financially. Improvement has also been recorded in sub-indicators such as ‘Availability of Venture Capital’ and ‘Access to Entrepreneurial Finance’. 87% of women entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia started a business to build wealth for greater financial autonomy.

Slight improvement in Egypt’s Entrepreneurial Framework

 Egypt recorded a slight increase in indicators such as ‘Women’s Entrepreneurial Activity Rate’ and ‘SME Operational Financing’, as well as ‘Entrepreneurial Framework’ and ‘Higher Education Entrepreneurial Training’. However, there remains a large gender gap in labor force participation in Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia despite there being more women enrolled in tertiary education than men.

Government policies that intentionally support women’s entrepreneurship can also meaningfully contribute to a swifter, more balanced recovery. As part of Mastercard’s commitment to creating a world where women entrepreneurs are equally represented and supported, the company made a global commitment to connect 25 million women entrepreneurs to the digital economy by 2025.

Not only will empowering women’s entrepreneurship act as a catalyst for growth and innovation, but it will raise up the communities around successful women and fuel a global recovery that is more equitable and sustainable for everyone.

Download the 2021 Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs report at mastercard.com/news/MIWE.