The PTCL Group, a telecommunications company in Pakistan, has joined forces with the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) to boost women’s business owners to build their businesses and get out of poverty. This is done by giving them education and access to digital and financial resources.
Adnan Anjum, the Group Chief Commercial Officer of PTCL Group, and Nadir Gul Barech, the Chief Operating Officer of PPAF. Signed the agreement at a ceremony in the Ufone Tower in Islamabad. The goal of this public-private partnership is to give women business owners the tools. The knowledge they need to build strong, long-lasting businesses.
During the one-year pilot project, 100 women who want to start their own businesses may get trained. The project will take place in four union councils and ten villages in the Haripur area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The institutions that are working together will run a two-week training module with a standard, high-impact curriculum. The focus will include digital literacy and business skills. Life skills that will help start-ups and small businesses grow to be successful.
PTCL will give the training sessions a central place, called a “Hub,” with internet access and classroom space. Ufone will also give out phones with SIM cards and data plans already installed for the length of the study.
To do this, PPAF will use its current presence in the community through partner organizations that are already working on different types of community development. PPAF will then lead the process of finding and choosing women entrepreneurs. The PPAF will also put some of its own money into the budget of the project.
During the signing ceremony, Adnan Anjum, Group Chief Commercial Officer for PTCL and Ufone said. “No country can achieve economic growth and progress without including half of its population. This is why diversity and inclusion are important parts of PTCL’s business strategy.”
I think it’s great that PTCL and PPAF are working together to boost women’s business owners’ use of digital tools and get funding to grow their businesses. He thinks that PTCL and PPAF are on the same page when it comes to macroeconomic change because they both want inclusive growth at the local level.
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When asked what he thought, PPAF’s Chief Operating Officer Nadir Gul Barech said, “We are happy to work with PTCL to enable and equip 100 small businesses in District Haripur as part of our joint pilot. PTCL’s onboarding is a game changer because the project will rely more on the internet and digital technology.”
The Poverty Reduction Action Fund (PPAF) thinks that this kind of program will go a long way toward making sure that the country’s economic growth helps everyone. We hope to give more people in the country, especially rural women. Access to resources with the help of partners like PTCL, he said.
This pilot project, which PTCL and PPAF hope will lead to a highly repeatable model for women’s gender inclusion and women’s empowerment. Include more technical and strategic partners.