Interesting observations

Babar — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:14:35 -0500

Rob, Your observations are on the spot. I referenced your mobile payment points in my blog: ink/... -Babar

Guest Blogger: Power, Politics, and Money in Pakistan

Rob Katz — Thu, 10 May 2007 14:46:09 -0500

Guest blogger James Dailey consults with Sevak Solutions and is CTO of Microfinance Clearinghouse. He was founder of the Microfinance Open Source initiative while at Grameen Foundation.

Pakistan is home to at least 160 million souls, many of them at the "base of the pyramid" and altogether a more complex and interesting place than that painted by the international media, which focusses on the threat of Terrorism. These are some impressions: A ferris wheel a short distance from the centuries old fort in Lahore; a ski lift outside of Islamabad that is a way to see pretty views where middle class families go; traffic clogged streets with elaborately decorated hauling trucks and an exuberiance of local trading; women dressed in colorful materials and women in head-to-toe black; men in western slacks and those in more traditional garb with longish beards; dry-dry mountains and fields; and fertile Punjab (five rivers) lands. It is not a major tourist destination, but it is a fascinating land and people, with eons of culture rubbing up against cosmopolitan sophistication.

The politics are also more complex. In the few weeks I have been here, a growing controversy has been brewing over the - shall we say effective - dismissal of the Supreme Court Chief Justice, with the largest anti-government demonstrations in many years. Initially a constitutional issue, it has taken on more ominous political implications.

Also, euphemistic "power management" or "load shedding" are scheduled power blackouts to deal with a 500MW electrical capacity shortfall, and this headed into the hottest period of the year when temperatures regularly exceed 105F (41C). Here in Karachi, riots are expected, maybe even today, if the outages last more than a few hours, as power management is, again, a highly politicized issue.

Microfinance reaches over 1 million people in Pakistan, more than a drop in the bucket but far less than the need for financial services for the tens of millions who live below or slighly above the official poverty line. My work here is directed at scaling up these microfinance providers utilizing the convergence of banking services and mobile phone carriers. This is the exciting future, ubiquitous communications via mobile phones enabling entirely new service models, via banking agents, for a variety of financial services to...well, everyone not currently reached by banks. The work, funded by USAID and executed by ShoreBank International, is also aimed at helping the earthquake victims of October 2005; massive devastation of lives and livelihoods, which is still strongly felt today.

(This post continues past the break; click "Read More" to continue)

NextBillion.net - Development Through Enterprise - Guest Blogger: Power, Politics, and Money in Pakistan - Comments

Interesting observations

Guest Blogger: Power, Politics, and Money in Pakistan