Pakistan Digital Gig Economy Growth Among World's Fastest

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan's digital gig economy growth is the fastest in Asia and fourth fastest in the world, according to digital payments platform Payoneer.

Gig Economy Growth in Q2/2019. Source: Payoneer

United States led gig economy growth of 78% followed by the United Kingdom 59%, Brazil 48%, Pakistan 47% and Ukraine 36%. Asia growth was led by Pakistan followed by Philippines (35%) , India  (29%) and Bangladesh (27%).

The rapid gig economy expansion of 47% in Pakistan  was fueled by several factors including the country's very young population 70% of which is under 30 years of age coupled with improvements in science and technical education and expansion of high-speed broadband access.  Pakistani freelancers under the age of 35 generated 77% of the revenue in second quarter of 2019.

Growth in Freelance Work. Source: Payoneer

Mohsin Muzaffar, head of business development at Payoneer in Pakistan, has said as follows: "Government investment in enhancing digital skills has helped create a skilled freelancer workforce while blanket 4G coverage across Pakistan has given freelancers unprecedented access to

international jobs".

Global Freelance Revenue By Age. Source: Payoneer.

In Q2/2019, Asia cemented its status as a freelancer hub.  Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, Philippines made it to the  top 10 list, collectively recording 238% increase from Q2/2018.

Online Labor Index. Source: Oxford Internet Institute

As of 2017, Pakistan freelancers ranked fourth in the world and accounted for 8.5% of the global online workforce, according to Online Labor Index compiled by Oxford Internet Institute. India led with 24% share followed by Bangladesh 16%, US 12%, Pakistan 8.5% and Philippines 6.5%.

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[Riaz Haq]

5G Testing in Pakistan


https://www.brecorder.com/2019/09/19/523373/much-ado-about-5g/


It is good to see that PTA has the consumers’ back, saving unsuspecting users from a cheerful leap towards deceptive marketing. It’s quite another matter that the telecom authorities were there to celebrate Zong’s “successful” 5G trial amid much fanfare last month. Perhaps if the clever play on words was detected earlier and rectified, it wouldn’t have led to this so-public loss of face for the Chinese operator.

Nothing to take away from Zong, though! In fact, the operator has a history of pushing competitors out of their comfort zone. Zong was the first player to bring 4G to Pakistan when other operators were hesitating even on 3G. Zong is reportedly looking to develop a 5G Innovation Center in Pakistan, with the tech giant Huawei on board.

For the market, it’s a long way to commercial rollout of 5G anyway, as full set of 5G standards are awaited by carriers. Rome wasn’t built in a day. And 5G will take five years to arrive, as per PTA’s reported statements to the Senate. For its part, the PTA has allowed the public testing of 5G, with other operators also in the line to test 5G on different sites.

However, over time, 5G’s commercial availability in Pakistan will confront several stubborn issues.

One is the availability and pricing of spectrum. The telecom authorities will need to vacate or re-farm the frequency spectrums that are most suitable for operation as per emerging 5G standards. Also, with the license renewal process under litigation, an agreement on future spectrum fees will likely be as contentious, if not more, between the finance ministry and the telecom operators.

Secondly, it’s still a long way to go before 5G-compatible handsets are made commercially available even in developed markets. But whenever it happens, it will aggravate the import dependency for Pakistan. The mobile-phone import bill has averaged $650 million in the past five fiscals – but come 5G, pricey, high-end handsets will likely make this figure cross the billion dollar mark.

And thirdly, operators must maintain a healthy score for their sponsors to inject fresh capital here. The PKR slide since December 2017 has severely dented telco’s dollar returns for their HQs. While Jazz is somewhat better off among the pack as it is leveraging its scale after absorbing Warid, the market in general is hit by economic slowdown. And this situation is expected to persist for a few more years.

In the light of the above, the telecom authorities need to come up with a holistic roadmap for 5G in time. The planning process needs to address policy aspects including spectrum management, local handset manufacturing, cost of doing business, digital equality, and consumer protection. Meanwhile, operators should try to be one up on quality-of-service instead of selling illusions.

[Riaz Haq]

Leading #Pakistani Bank Partners With #Ripple to Launch #Digital #Payments Solution. Faysal Bank Limited (FBL) has launched a digital payments solution through a partnership with #US-based Ripple, a #blockchain-based money transfer platform. #fintech
https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2019/09/151318-leading-pakistani-b...

FBL is one of Pakistan’s largest commercial banks with over 220 branches nationwide and assets totaling $1.5 billion.

Announced on September 6, 2019, FBL’s partnership with Ripple was commemorated by a meeting in Karachi, Pakistan’s leading industrial and financial center. The business meeting was attended by Faysal Bank’s president Yousaf Hussain.

FBL, an Islamic private bank, has joined more than 200 financial institutions and payment providers that are using RippleNet, a decentralized global payments network for conducting fast and cost-effective cross-border transactions.

The leading Pakistani bank has reportedly been working on various initiatives aimed at supporting the development of a digital economy. FBL notably became the first major private Pakistani bank to introduce a virtual payment card in Pakistan in 2017.

FBL recently sponsored a one-day summit focused on electronic payments in Karachi, in order to spread “mass awareness about digital money.”

Pakistan’s regulatory authorities have not drafted guidelines for transactions involving cryptocurrencies. In 2018, the country’s central bank, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), ordered all local financial institutions to suspend services being offered to individuals and firms dealing in Bitcoin and other digital assets.

[Riaz Haq]

#Telenor #Pakistan partners with #Engro’s Enfrashare "to enhance Pakistan’s critical #communication #infrastructure network while allowing Telenor to meet its coverage and capacity requirements for rapidly growing data demands.” #telecom #4G https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/11/02/telenor-pakistan-par... via @Profitpk

Enfrashare Pakistan Private Limited, a connectivity infrastructure company, and Telenor Pakistan have entered into a long-term partnership for the development of connectivity infrastructure.

Telenor has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Edotco, another infrastructure company, for its operations in Pakistan.

According to the press release issued by Enfrashare, the company will help develop connectivity infrastructure and provide key services to Telenor, thereby upscaling connectivity and enabling the telecom to focus on core business functions.

“This partnership aims to enhance Pakistan’s critical communication infrastructure network while allowing Telenor to meet its coverage and capacity requirements for rapidly growing data demands,” read the statement.

Enfrashare is owned by one of the largest groups in Pakistan – Engro Corporation Limited – and was formed as a digital connectivity firm. At the time of its formation, Engro announced that the company plans to invest Rs7.5 billion in the telecommunication sector of Pakistan. While its expertise and investment in connectivity infrastructure allow mobile operators to reduce the cost of access to consumers, Enfrashare aims to engage with all stakeholders in the telecom ecosystem in order to realise a larger goal of digitising Pakistan.

On behalf of Engro, company spokesman Amanul Haque stated, “Engro firmly believes that connectivity is a basic human need and is the conduit that enables social and financial inclusion. This agreement will allow Enfrashare to work with one of the most respected operators in the country to provide enhanced solutions. Enfrashare envisions enabling broader connectivity and encompasses all necessary components including towers, fibre, energy, and more.”

Telenor Pakistan Deputy CEO and Chief Technology Officer Khurrum Ashfaque said, “We, at Telenor Pakistan, are driven by our vision of empowering Pakistan through enhanced connectivity and believe that telecom technology is a true driver towards bridging the socio-economic divide. We look forward to working with Enfrashare to provide innovative and advanced solutions, including fibre and energy optimization, which will be instrumental for network enhancement in years to come.”

Telenor Pakistan Manager Corporate Communications Saad Warraich told Pakistan Today that Telenor has varied operations in vast areas all over the country, so the fact that the company has entered into partnership with both Edotco and Enfrashare does not have any bearing on its individual projects, and will not be overlapping over each other.

He added that Telenor believes that tower sharing is the right way ahead and progress on that front is also underway.

[Riaz Haq]

Tower sharing termed essential to meet #Pakistan's growing demand for #data. Four telecom operators in the country have around 34,000 towers...Advent of #4G and #5G will drive tower requirement for 17,000 more towers by 2022. #Mobile #telecom #broadband https://www.dawn.com/news/1514554

“Data consumption is forecast to increase by as much as seven times between 2018 and 2022, so tower requirements will increase too. The need of the hour is to adopt a more collaborative approach by all telecom companies to be successful in the 5G era,” he (Endotco manager) said.

With future investment plan of $100 million, the Malaysia-based Edotco Group offered telecom operators to provide shared network of mobile towers for better services to the customers in Pakistan, he said.

European countries were following the model of shared network of mobile operators to provide better services to the consumers. It would also result in saving of multi-billion dollars that were being spent on installing parallel towers by different companies.

Mr Koralage said that the company had already invested $200 million to set up mobile towers.

“To shift from 3G to 4G, there needed to be an increase in the number of sites. If each operator has their own site and tower then it will result in overcrowding of towers and therefore telcos have to adopt modern concepts being introduced by tower companies,” he said.

To fulfil the Digital Pakistan agenda of the government and meet the growing demand for data transfer, tower sharing will become essential as it is followed by other advanced countries, he added.

The Edotco official added that Pakistan still lagged behind in the digitisation race as other countries have made robust progress in the last five years. In 2018, the 4G penetration rate in Malaysia was 55pc whereas the 4G population coverage has not even crossed 50pc in Pakistan in 2019.

[Riaz Haq]

VEON announces a partnership between JazzCash and #Mastercard for #digital #payments, #SupplyChain & cashless operations in #Pakistan. Over 7 million customers and merchants use JazzCash every month. It's the leading digital #wallet in Pakistan. https://www.finextra.com/pressarticle/82374/jazzcash-strikes-master...

In a first for Pakistan, merchants and consumers who sign up for JazzCash wallet will be able to benefit from a wide range of Mastercard’s digital solutions and capabilities to pay for orders and services via all digital channels as well as make online payments in a fast, safe and convenient manner.

VEON’s co-CEO Sergi Herrero commented: “The COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting the need for digital payments, more than ever before. This partnership with Mastercard will allow our more than seven million customers and merchants to carry out their essential transactions in a safe and efficient way. In the future, with a young and fast-growing population of more than 200 million, there is clearly scope in Pakistan for JazzCash to accelerate its recent growth while improving financial inclusion.”

Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President, Market Development, Middle East and Africa - Mastercard, said: “With a large percentage of Pakistan’s population still unable to access formal financial services, this partnership serves to drive financial inclusion in the country and will provide customers with a much simpler, faster and more secure way of making payments. It will further equip them with the necessary tools to benefit from a newer and revamped digital economy. As a global leader in the payments technology sector, we are committed to helping Pakistan unlock the economic opportunities offered by digital payments.”

JazzCash customers will also have access to Mastercard’s virtual and branded debit cards that can be used in 55,000 points of sale and ATMs in Pakistan, in addition to JazzCash merchants and e-commerce sites.

[Riaz Haq]

Telenor Accelerator launches #EdTech Innovation program in #Pakistan. It provides curriculum and skill-based #education for school, college and university students, as well as additional courses incl personal development modules, #digital skills & #STEM https://www.telecompaper.com/news/telenor-velocity-launches-edtech-...

Telenor Velocity, the digital startup accelerator by Telenor Pakistan, has introduced its EdTech Innovation programme, to forge alliances with EdTech startups/scaleups. This initiative is launched in response to the closure of educational institutions and offices due to the coronavirus outbreak, Telenor said.
The programme provides curriculum and skill-based education for school, college and university students, as well as additional courses including personal development modules, digital skills, and STEAM (Science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) with a special focus on Robotics.

The Telenor Velocity EdTech Cohort has stepped forward to help students shift to online access and added a number of partners for this purpose including K-5 SABAQ Muse, a learning service based on videos, games and ebooks in multiple languages for early grades. The Edaksa service supports STEAM education and helps Pakistani high school students prepare and pass their standardized government exams; while the EDTechWorx content creation and collaborative delivery platform connects learner, educators and the overall industry. The Skills First online academy aims to allow users to develop their skills; while LearnObots aims to develop makers and creators of tomorrow, with a practical learning approach in the domain of Educational Robotics.

[Riaz Haq]

#Digital #Education: The Foundation Of #DigitalPakistan. Digitization of education and moving on to technological education must be the foundation of digital #Pakistan that is compatible with a #technology-led world. #literacy #distancelearning #Covid_19 https://academiamag.com/digital-education-the-foundation-of-digital...

Pakistan’s oft lauded “strategic position” happens to see us situated in South Asia. Apart from the geopolitical advantage that some claim we inherit because of this location, there is precious little that the world’s most underdeveloped region has to offer. According to a well-researched study by Mahbub ul-Haq published in 1997, “South Asia is fast emerging as the poorest, most-illiterate, the most malnourished, the least gender-sensitive–indeed, the most deprived region in the world.” Over two decades later, much of that still rings true. If we were to just focus on one aspect of the aforementioned quote, as is the scope of this article, education alone hasn’t progressed at a rate one would expect it to. Currently, Pakistan has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children (OOSC), with an estimated 22.8 million children aged 5-16 not attending school.

That represents 44 percent of the total population in this age group. In the 5-9 age group, 5 million children are not enrolled in schools and after primary-school age, the number of OOSC doubles, with 11.4 million adolescents between the ages of 10-14 not receiving formal education. Disparities based on gender, socio-economic status, and geography are significant. In Sindh, 52 percent of the poorest children (58 percent girls) are out of school, and in Balochistan, 78 percent of girls are out of school, as reported by UNICEF.

Regional Benchmarks
With such a dismal background, it is extremely unsettling to note that these statistics only refer to basic education. The world has moved to digital and technological education and skill development, the likes of which the school children of our country have probably never even heard of. Furthermore, if we were to just look East, Bangladesh is one of the top four countries in terms of ‘improvement and remarkable growth’ in digital economy in the last four years, according to Huawei Global Connectivity Index (GCI) 2019. The GCI report was published by Huawei on digital development based on how ICT innovation and ICT applications can grow national economies, and a result of open research into the digital economy with top universities, think tanks, and industry associations.

Bangladesh has come a long way in literacy by efficiently responding to the Basic Literacy Project and by incorporating technology within the education sector. Bangladesh’s literacy rate has risen significantly in the past decade, estimated at 72.76%, according to the latest data from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). The rate is increasing as the present government is adopting multifaceted programs and it is one of the major reasons that UN Committee for Development Policy (CPD) has promoted Bangladesh to a ‘Developing Country’ status. To realize the plan for Digital Bangladesh, many institutions in the education sector have adopted information technology to engage the attention of students through visual representation of sounds, concepts and pictures alongside interactive activities.

With such an effective digital infrastructure already in place, Bangladesh was in a much better position to implement disaster management strategies to deal with COVID-19 outbreak with respect to education, a far cry from what has happened in Pakistan Online classes, remote and distant learning facilities were much easier to establish in Bangladesh. We, on the other hand, have just started to venture into the world that is digital education.

With the prime minister’s initiative of “Digital Pakistan” we seem to be on the right path, albeit a little too late. We must leverage all that we can from such a scheme for Pakistan to bridge the gap between where other nations stand and where we stand.

[Riaz Haq]

5G trials have begun in #Pakistan. In January 2020 the telecom regulator issued trial #5G licenses to Zong and Jazz. Ministry of Information #Technology is aiming to launch 5G services later in 2020. #Broadband #mobile https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/06/10/2046350/0/en/...

Just released, this edition of Paul Budde Communication’s focus report on Pakistan outlines the major developments and key aspects in the telecoms markets.

Key Developments

Regulator postpones renewal of Telenor Pakistan’s GSM licence due to CPOVID-19 crisis,
Fixed line market predicted to decline further over the next five years to 2024;
Dominance of the mobile platform continues to hinder development of fixed-broadband segment;
Universal Service Fund (USF) and Ufone signa contract to provide broadband coverage for the Makran Coastal Highway;
MoIT aiming to launch 5G services later in 2020;
Report update includes operator data to Q1 2020, regulator’s market data for 2019, Telecom Iaturity Index charts and analyses, assessment of the global impact of COVID-19 on the telecoms sector.
Key companies mentioned in this report:

Pakistan Telecommunication (PTCL); Ufone (PTML, PTCL’s subsidiary); Telenor Pakistan; Warid Telecom; Zong; WorldCall; TeleCard; PakNet; Wateen Telecom (subsidiary of Warid Telecom); Mobilink; NayaTel; Wi-Tribe; National Telecommunications (NTC), Instaphone

[Riaz Haq]

Millions of US$ owed to #Pakistani #freelancers stuck indefinitely amid Wirecard fraud. Industry experts estimate that there are between 50,000 to 100,000 total Payoneer users in Pakistan. Payoneer Prepaid Mastercard is issued by Wirecard AG https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/06/27/payoneer-prepaid-car... via @Profitpk


On Thursday, Wirecard AG filed for insolvency after it was revealed that the company was involved in the accounting fraud and reported that 1.9 billion euros from the company account were missing. Subsequently, the UK regulator of WCSL, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), ordered WCSL to freeze all prepaid card activity for the time being.

The FCA has communicated that they have taken these measures with the primary objective of protecting the interests and money of consumers who use Wirecard services. Pending further actions from the FCA, all payments services, including Payoneer, that subscribe to Wirecard, their cards will be blocked temporarily and the users will not be able to withdraw the funds on these cards, nor receive new payments.



Payoneer CEO Scott Galit stated, “We understand that the developing situation with Wirecard has created a lot of concern and challenges for Payoneer Prepaid Mastercard®️ card users. We have been assured by the FCA that the freeze was put in place to ensure the protection of all cardholders funds. We have also been given repeated reassurances that all funds are properly safeguarded. Progress is being made to lift the freeze, and we will continue to update you as soon as more information is available. This situation has impacted the customers of many companies, and we believe that it will be resolved soon.

In the meantime, incoming funds to Payoneer users can be withdrawn to bank accounts, or held in a Payoneer Account which remains safe and secure. All funds held in Payoneer are fully liquid and available and held in global leading banks. Our company is strong and stable, and committed to safeguarding our customers’ funds in accordance with all relevant global regulations.



We know that our customers depend on these funds, and that this freeze has created hardships for many people. We have enabled alternative solutions for payment withdrawal, and are working to address any technical issues that have come up, and to help our customers in any way we can.”

Payoneer, in its blog, also assured its users that the funds stored on individual Payoneer Prepaid Mastercard users were safe and secure.

“Although Wirecard Card Solutions Limited is a subsidiary within the Wirecard group and shares the same brand, they are an entirely independent entity with their own board, their own regulatory and capital requirements and are subject to regulatory oversight and accounting standards in the UK,” the blog post read.

“As they are independent, your card is not impacted and you can continue to use it as usual. Nonetheless, we work with other issuers including our own, and are working on contingency plans to ensure we maintain continuity and redundancy now and in the future. Even in the unlikely event of insolvency of Wirecard Card Solutions Limited, funds held on your card remain secure as they are held in trust in safeguarded accounts at regulated credit institutions in the UK and the European Economic Area (EEA) and designated as your funds,” it read.

Payoneer prepaid cards are mostly used by freelancers in Pakistan to receive payments from offshore clients for the projects they deliver. Besides freelancers, small companies also use Payoneer’s services for international payments.



The payment can be retrieved into a prepaid card or an app-based virtual account. People who use prepaid cards have temporarily lost access to cash as the cards have been blocked for an indefinite period of time. While no timeline has been given by Payoneer for resumption of card services, the company says that users are able to transfer money from their virtual accounts to local bank accounts for withdrawal.

[Riaz Haq]

Payoneer Global Survey of freelancers incomes in 2015:

Pakistani women freelancers charge $22 an hour, 10% more than $20 an hour that men charge.

Having a university degree does not get you more money...in fact the average rate for the world for high school graduates ($22 an hour) is about 10% higher than that of university graduates ($20 an hour).

https://blog.payoneer.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/freelancer-rep...

To better understand the trends impacting this global movement, we surveyed 23,000 freelancers worldwide, including emerging markets such as Pakistan, the Philippines and the Ukraine. Survey respondents comprise a random sample of Payoneer’s cross-border payment platform users, providing unique insights into how these globally-enabled freelancers operate, what makes them successful and what rates they command.

https://pubs.payoneer.com/images/2020-Freelancer-Income-Report.pdf