Tag: Pakistan

Karachi, Pakistan – Pakistan-based fintech NayaPay has raised US$13m in one of the largest seed rounds in South Asia, which was led by Zayn Capital, global fund manager MSA Novo, and early-stage VC Graph Ventures from Silicon Valley, as well as the participation of Singapore-based Saison Capital, amongst many others.

NayaPay aims to be at the forefront in the digitisation of Pakistan with its two-sided platform for the underbanked. The fintech has launched its chat-led super app targeted primarily at students and freelancers, and is building a SaaS-based platform called NayaPay Arc offering universal payment acceptance and financial management tools for SMBs. NayaPay’s platform strategy will harness the network effects between consumers and merchants, as seen in platforms such as Square Cash/Square, WeChat Pay, and AliPay as well as Venmo in their native markets.

According to NayaPay, Pakistan presents a significant market opportunity for the platform, where over 50 million adults are unbanked and only 33% of women have a bank account. With 70% of the population under 35 years old, there is a significant mobile-first generation. It also said that almost US$4t payments are made each year but only 1% of these are made digitally currently, while on the merchant side, the majority of SMBs in Pakistan are unregistered. They only have traditionally dealt primarily in cash, and have very limited access to business banking.

Danish A. Lakhani, NayaPay’s founder and CEO, shared that micro, small and medium businesses make up 90% of the merchant base in Pakistan and yet they are underserved when it comes to access to basic financial services. 

“NayaPay Arc will provide universal payments acceptance and a range of business financial management tools to empower entrepreneurs and small business owners. The tools are intended to give business owners visibility of their cash flows, pay suppliers and grow sales. Our goal is to enable them to focus on growth while we take care of the rest. By helping small businesses harness the power of technology, we believe we can transform the Pakistani economy,” said Lakhani.

Meanwhile, Faisal Aftab, Zayn Capital Frontier’s managing partner and co-founder, commented that they were impressed by the completeness of the vision of the founding team at NayaPay, and their differentiated platform-based strategy, first focused on servicing the needs of underbanked consumers and SMBs with specific use cases and building out from there. 

“With a proven ability to execute on the ground, the founder has an impressive track record of building and scaling businesses in Pakistan, including the country’s largest fibre broadband service, StormFiber,” said Aftab.

Omar Siddiqui, Graph Venture’s general partner, said that they are excited to see the mobile and fintech technology trends that have empowered consumers in these markets also emerge in Pakistan. 

“NayaPay already offers the most robust solution for consumers to access next-generation financial conveniences in Pakistan, and we look forward to working with the team as they roll out new products and grow their consumer base,” added Siddiqui.

Karachi, Pakistan — Media investment group GroupM announced the Pakistan launch of its AI-powered brand-safe influencer marketing solution, INCA during its latest virtual event. Leveraging GroupM’s remarkable scale, INCA connects brands to a vast network of reliable publishers and influencers to create and promote content in social channels that will drive brand engagement across digital platforms.

With the platform now entering Pakistan, clients in the country can now leverage the additional benefit of global expertise and run campaigns across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. Assisting these clients is INCA’s specialist teams in four regions and 30 countries who have created more than 2,500 campaigns with over 100,000 content pieces for more than 300 unique clients around the world.

INCA’s proprietary end-to-end AI-powered platform provides numerous useful offerings namely unique creator and audience insights, fraud detection, workflow tools, content amplification, and detailed campaign reporting dashboards. It leverages a proprietary algorithm that uses real-time data to source, curate, and match influencers and publishers to a brand’s campaign objectives to deliver the most credible partners and content for the greatest impact.

Naveed Asghar, CEO of GroupM Pakistan, commented, “We are thrilled about INCA’s launch in Pakistan. We look forward to helping brands scale up their digital campaigns through our best-in-class AI-enabled influencer marketing technology to guarantee not only effective marketing but also connect brands with relevant, authentic influencers and publishers.”

With INCA’s trusted and scalable solutions, the platform can accommodate publishers, influencers, and their content needs to be manually identified, screened, and managed to ensure quality and brand safety, as the trend of fake followers enabled by bots makes it harder to tell if an influencer is a genuine and valuable creator.

Ghulam Jillani, business director (INCA) of GroupM Pakistan, said, “Using technology to challenge norms is the route to change the landscape. INCA addresses these challenges to provide a trusted network of verified influencer partners and campaign management processes. With this step, we expect for the ecosystem to change in order for us to bring that change in Pakistan we have INCA at GroupM.”

Meanwhile, Ateeq Rehman, CIO of GroupM Pakistan, shared, “At INCA, we build genuine relationships between brands, consumers, and creators to drive business outcomes for clients and maximise returns on their digital spend. Influencer marketing is growing at a phenomenal pace in Pakistan and we look forward to implementing INCA’s influencer marketing solutions for our valued clients in this region.”

Pakistan – Pakistan-based bank network HBL has partnered with Temenos, a global banking software company, to adopt the company’s core banking platform, aimed at providing domestic and international operations with a cutting-edge banking experience.

Through the partnership, HBL will be onboarding over 25 million of its clients onto Temenos’ open platform for composable banking, which will accelerate its services across all segments, markets, and channels. HBL clients will now have an enhanced user experience in the form of increased reliability, security, and a modern platform that will enhance the bank’s digitalisation journey.

In addition, the Temenos implementation will include a full suite of client-friendly products and services that will provide end-to-end, technologically advanced solutions to both HBL’s conventional and Islamic banking clients. This faster onboarding and quicker transaction processing will provide a more seamless client experience, enabling HBL to increase its digital footprint across Pakistan and internationally.

The new system will also enhance adherence to local banking regulations and improve reporting standards for international markets in China, GCC, Europe, and SAARC countries.

Muhammad Aurangzeb, HBL’s president and CEO, said “The open technology platform provided by Temenos is flexible, global-ready and has the breadth of banking services to meet our clients’ fast-developing banking needs. This partnership contributes to our goal to become a ‘Technology company with a banking license’.”

Meanwhile, Sagheer Mufti, HBL’s chief operating officer, noted, “At HBL, we are always looking at better ways to serve our clients. By adopting this leading platform, we will add to our capability to give clients an improved experience when using our services, now and for many years to come.”

Max Chuard, Temenos’ CEO, commented that HBL is a forward-looking bank with a pioneering approach to shaping the future of banking, and Temenos’ open platform for composable banking will free the bank from legacy constraints. 

“To innovate safely at speed, as well as scale its offering and achieve its growth goals. We are proud to support HBL as it delivers on this exciting vision for more than 25 million clients worldwide,” said Chuard.

Pakistan – Global snacking company Mondelēz has appointed Sami Wahid, its former strategy lead for the Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan (MENAP), as the new managing director for Pakistan.

Wahid brings over 17 years of experience in the fields of marketing, sales, and strategy. He has a long association with Mondelez International, starting back in 2015 where he became part of the organization and have overlooked various responsibilities across many markets. During his most recent role at Mondelez, he has steered and transformed the company through the challenging times of the pandemic.

In his new role, Wahid will be responsible for Mondelēz Pakistan’s overall business strategy and commercial offerings.

Commenting on his appointment, Wahid said that it is an honour to take on the new role, especially at a time when there are growing opportunities and promising business avenues for Pakistan.

He further shared that they have built a strong foundation for the company in the past years which is envisioned to grow even further through tactful and strategic means.

“My aim is to bring the years of knowledge and experience of multi-markets & categories to further accelerate the company’s growth via deepening our connection with consumers and expanding our footprints into evolving channels, as well as focusing on our team development,” said Wahid.

Multan, Pakistan – The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) had recently hosted a 2-day SME mela or event on January 25 to 26, where attendees visited the banks’ stalls to seek knowledge of SBP’s financing schemes and banks’ loan products.

The event was attended by officials and members of chambers of industry and commerce, associations of traders and women entrepreneurs, and SMEs clusters of Multan. Said attendees registered themselves at various bank’s stalls to express interest in concessional schemes, including 105 SMEs and women entrepreneurs who applied on the spot for financing under different SBP’s schemes and the Kamyab Jawan Program, a youth development program by the Pakistani government.

Muhammad Ashraf Khan, managing director at SBP Banking Services Corporation (SBP BSC), inaugurated the event and while giving his keynote address said that SBP is making all its efforts to enhance collaboration with the industry and chambers across the country to spread awareness of its credit schemes to boost their utilisation. 

He also added that through the event, banks and the business community would be brought under one roof, providing an opportunity to micro, small, and medium enterprises to seek guidance from concerned officials of SBP and commercial banks about concessionary refinance schemes. He also encouraged those SMEs to apply under SBP’s SAAF that have strong business viability but do not have collateral to offer. 

On day one of the Mela, participants were briefed about the key features of SME ASAAN Finance Scheme (SAAF) and PM Kamyab Jawan Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme. Under SAAF Scheme, collateral free financing of up to Rs10m is available through eight participating banks. Similarly, under Kamyab Jawan Scheme, concessional loans of up to Rs25m are available at end user rate of 3% to 5%. On the second day of Mela, participants were apprised about key features of SBP’s financing scheme for renewable energy and Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar (MPMG) Scheme.

Islamabad, Pakistan – Mobile digital communication company Telenor Pakistan and blockchain-based media and fintech BOLT Digital have joined forces in bringing access to premium live TV entertainment to viewers in Pakistan. 

This will be accessible for the telco’s subscribers via BOLT Global’s live-streaming service, BOLT+, a blockchain-based streaming service with over 600 live TV and radio channels from 28 countries.

BOLT+ streams a wide range of live TV channels, including breaking news and premium entertainment from France 24, Al Jazeera, and Deutsche Welle Group. In addition, through BOLT Global’s partnership with soccer app OneFootball, Telenor Pakistan customers are also able to enjoy direct access to exclusive football content from the top football clubs in the world. 

Areej Khan, vice president digital at Telenor Pakistan, said, “We are happy to be working with BOLT Global to launch BOLT+ Premium in Pakistan. At Telenor Pakistan, we strive to bring new and exciting entertainment experiences to our subscribers. With BOLT+, our subscribers can watch international live TV channels anytime, anywhere.”

She added, “Through our unique partnerships bringing enhanced value for our valued customers, we are confident that our users will continue to value us as their preferred service provider.”

Access to BOLT+ has 2 tiers: an ad-supported free tier called BOLT+ Free and a paid subscription known as BOLT+ Premium which includes premium features to enhance users’ live entertainment experience. Telenor users can easily subscribe to BOLT+ Premium via their mobile balance.

Jamal Hassim, co-founder and CEO of BOLT Global, commented, “We will be working with Telenor Pakistan to bring more exciting, immersive and rewarding content to our new users in the country. Already, users can access a huge array of international live channels bringing news, European club football and esports amongst other genres on BOLT+. We will also be working closely with Telenor Pakistan on the ground to uncover new content creators in the country, and to broadcast their content to an international audience on BOLT+.”

Islamabad, Pakistan – The revenue on linear advertising in the Pakistan market is set to grow by 5% by the end of 2022 at US$480m, slightly higher than its pre-COVID revenue of US$460m at 6%, according to the latest data from global media investment and intelligence company MAGNA.

The growth is parallel to Pakistan’s growing economy, with real GDP forecast to grow by +4% in 2022, according to the latest IMF report, following growth of +3.9% in 2021. 

 Format-wise, OOH (+10%) and television (+5%) is expected to see the strongest growth in 2022 for Pakistan, while print will continue to stagnate at -1%, and radio seeing a modest increase of +4%.

Meanwhile, digital ad formats will experience much stronger growth, with revenues rising +28% to reach US$170m. This follows strong 2021 growth of +38%, driven by significant increases from digital video (+43%) and search (+41%). Digital (+41%) and search (+29%) will continue to drive growth in 2022, along with social (+23%). 

Digital media remains relatively underdeveloped in Pakistan, accounting for less than 30% of total ad dollars, compared to the APAC average of 63% and of neighboring country India with 33%. Over the next five years, the report anticipates a digital CAGR of +28%. Over 70% of digital ad dollars currently go towards mobile formats; this share is expected to increase to 86% by 2026.

Karachi, Pakistan – Pakistan has the highest rate of Breast Cancer in Asia, with over 90,000 cases of breast cancer reported every year, and 1 in 9 Pakistani women have become a breast cancer patient at some stage of her life. And devastatingly, almost half of these women die. 

A major reason for this high number is not just the lack of awareness but also the cultural taboo and stigma associated with the topic of women’s breasts in Pakistan – a mere discussion is considered immoral. Women hesitate to get their breasts checked or even check themselves on the grounds of modesty – and this becomes a major barrier in the early prevention of the disease.

In a bid to combat this stigma, locally-recognized fashion designer Ali Xeeshan and BBDO Pakistan have worked on a new campaign called ‘The Veil of Care’ where they have created a veil or locally known as a dupatta, historically known in South Asia to safeguard a woman’s modesty by covering her breasts. The veil will serve as an active reminder with instructions on how to check oneself, all while emphasizing that this action is not at the compromise of modesty, but well within its bounds. 

The dupatta is designed with traditional embroidered motif patterns that incorporate a ribbon, and also features poetry from pink warrior Asma Nabeel along its borders. ‘The Veil Of Care’ comes with a small booklet knotted into a corner, a traditional ritual in which women knot the corner of their dupattas to hide valuables in, that explains in English and Urdu the correct way to check your breasts. The veil is made available in stores and online, and all of the profits from the sales of these dupattas will go to breast cancer patients at the country’s top hospital, Shaukat Khanum Memorial.

“In South Asia, the dupatta is a symbol of modesty and to protect this modesty, women often hesitate to check themselves. So, I designed a new kind of veil that not only serves the purpose of guarding women’s modesty but also gives them a reminder that they should take care of their health too,” Xeeshan said.

To ensure that the campaign’s reach was national, the clothing brand GENERATION launched a further design rendition of the dupatta to make it more accessible to all women in Pakistan.

“As a womenswear brand, women’s health issues have always been very close to our heart. Although we have been conducting annual Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns for many years, this year we decided to take our commitment a step ahead. We’ve joined hands with Ali Xeeshan to bring you a one-of-a-kind dupatta for which we’ll be donating all profits to the Shaukat Khanum Hospital,” said Khadija Rahman, creative director at GENERATION.

Meanwhile, Ali Rez, regional ECD at Impact BBDO and BBDO Pakistan, commented, “This was an intensely personal project for the team. Our heartfelt gratitude to everybody who helped in making it happen, especially pink warrior Asma Nabeel who is currently battling the disease. It is our hope that this meaningful project spreads as much awareness as possible and saves lives.”

Islamabad, Pakistan – Short video platform SnackVideo has announced that it is entering an exclusive partnership agreement with two of Pakistan’s known cricket teams namely Islamabad United and Multan Sultans.

Through the agreement, Islamabad United is bound to endorse SnackVideo as one of its partners during the sixth season of the Pakistan Super League this year, while Multan Sultans are set to endorse the app through its member players across fans of said cricket team.

“Partners like SnackVideo form an essential part of the sporting scene here in Pakistan, and we are happy to support partners who invest and develop our business and sporting industries together,” said Mohammad Rizwan, captain of Multan Sultans.

Through the exclusive sponsorship agreement, SnackVideo will be featured across ad slots in the nation’s print, television and radio spaces.

Shadab Khan, captain of Islamabad United also announced that part of the exclusive sponsorship agreement is that fans get the chance to win signed team merchandise via SnackVideo.

“Islamabad United is proud to align ourselves with a rising platform such as SnackVideo. SnackVideo aims to give a voice to every person so that they can express themselves, which is what our team has done for our fans in the league.’ Fans of both teams are not going to leave empty-handed as well,” Khan said.

Pakistan – Chinese low-cost retailer Miniso has acquired the Pakistan operations of eCommerce site ToSharing from shopping website Cheezmall, said a report by Profit.

The acquisition, which has a valuation between $5M and $7M, was finalized in September.

With the business based in China, ToSharing’s operations are manned outside of Pakistan. Prior to the acquisition, Miniso products are offered on a number of third-party marketplaces in the country, with ToSharing considered as its channel partner with direct online sales redirecting to the site.

With the deal, such marketplaces will be halted. Miniso did share that the sale of its products through the said channel resulted in inconsistent customer experiences, where ToSharing now standing as the exclusive online destination for purchasing Miniso products in Pakistan.

Mainly, the move by Miniso will be an acqui-hiring where as of 21 October 2020, cross-functional teams of ToSharing across marketing, supply chain, customer care, security, and risk will be transferred to Miniso.pk, its upcoming eCommerce store.

The site will be ready to process orders by the 31st of October 2020.

The acquisition is only the first phase of the investment from Miniso, with the retailer looking to complete further investments to build eCommerce fulfillment centers and the entire infrastructure, for a successful eCommerce operation in major cities of Pakistan.