Two entities in Pakistan that are controlled by Norwegian conglomerate Telenor recently partnered with two entities of the government of the Pakistani province of Punjab to create the “Connected Agriculture Platform Punjab” (CAPP). The goal of CAPP is to provide farmers with interest-free loans through digital wallets and connect members of the value chain such as input suppliers, commodity buyers and researchers. CAPP also aims to help 500,000 farmers increase yields by accessing agricultural advisory services via no-cost 4G smartphones with data packages.
The program partners are Telenor Microfinance Bank; Telenor Pakistan, which provides telecommunication services in Pakistan; the Punjab Information Technology Board and the province’s Agriculture Department.
Punjab has an estimated 10 million farmers, of whom 2 million use cellular data services.
As of 2016, Telenor Microfinance Bank had the rupee equivalent of USD 329.5 million in audited total assets and USD 3 million in audited profit after taxation.
By Ryan Gauthier, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
The Express Tribune
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1450344/improving-agriculture-punjab-partners-telenor-telenor-microfinance-bank/
Telenor
https://www.telenor.com/
Telenor Microfinance Bank
https://www.telenorbank.pk/
Telenor Microfinance Bank Quarterly Report – September 2016
http://www.telenorbank.pk/assets/pdf/accounts/2016/Tameer_Bank_Third_Quarterly_accounts_%20September_%2030_%202016.pdf.pdf
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