KARACHI: Karandaaz and FINCA Microfinance Bank signed an agreement to undertake joint efforts to advance women’s financial inclusion in Pakistan.

The MoU signing ceremony took place at FINCA Pakistan’s Head Office in Lahore and was chaired by CEO FINCA Microfinance Bank, Jahanzeb Khan, CEO Karandaaz, Waqas-ul-Hasan. The ceremony was also attended by senior management members from both organizations.

Under this agreement, Karandaaz has committed a grant to FINCA Microfinance Bank Pakistan for initiating and running an exploration program that will help FINCA design gender-sensitive products and communication strategy with the aim of reducing the gender gap.

Waqas-ul-Hasan, CEO Karandaaz, expressed his views on the collaboration, stating that, “Financial inclusion of small savers and underserved segments is at the core of Karandaaz’s overall push for greater financial inclusion in the country.

As per the latest Global Findex 2021, top line financial inclusion in Pakistan is estimated at 21%. If we look at the gender disaggregated data, it is concerning the while an estimated 28% of Pakistan’s adult male population is financially included; the ratio for adult women is at 13%.

We hope that, with Karandaaz support, through customized products and a vigorous outreach campaign, FINCA will be able to play an effective role in bridging this gap between financial inclusion of Pakistani men and women and further accelerate the financial inclusion trend for Pakistan.”

On this occasion, Jahanzeb Khan, CEO of FINCA Microfinance Ltd., said “Women’s empowerment is at the core of FINCA’s mission to alleviate poverty. Since its inception, FINCA through a network of 130+ branches across 120+ cities in Pakistan, has endeavoured to empower women in the workforce as well as the client base. Quite recently, we won the prestigious Global Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarks Awards 2021 and take pride in having the highest women workforce in the industry.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022