KARACHI: Alraedah Digital Solutions, a leading Saudi technology company, announced on Thursday it was entering into a strategic partnership with Pakistani fintech ABHI to launch “innovative” financial services in the Kingdom.
Alraedah Digital Solutions, the digital arm of Alraedah Digital Group, focuses on innovation and digital transformation to empower businesses and individuals through cutting-edge solutions in finance and technology.
ABHI is a Pakistani fintech company that provides innovative finance solutions to businesses and their employees. Last year, it was selected as one of the Future 100 companies of the United Arab Emirates.
Founded in 2021, ABHI has been serving customers in Pakistan, UAE, and Bangladesh through its credit-bridging products. These include Earned Wage Access, Invoice Factoring, SME Working Capital & Revenue Based Financing, and Payroll Solutions.
“Under the terms of the agreement, Alraedah will leverage ABHI’s robust capabilities to launch a set of innovative financial services in KSA,” the Saudi company said in a press release.
The statement said as per the terms of the agreement, ABHI will gain access to Alraedah’s knowledge and understanding of the local Saudi market. This would enable it to collaboratively launch innovative financing products in Saudi Arabia.
“Alraedah will enable access to $200 million over the course of three years to develop products that apply ABHI’s proprietary technology, localized for the Saudi market,” the press release said.
The Pakistani fintech says it has a client base of over 1,000 esteemed companies and actively promotes financial empowerment and provides stability to over 750,000 employees across the region.
“With our innovative financial solutions and Alraedah’s deep local expertise, we are poised to empower Saudi citizens, embolden the private sector, and foster a more vibrant, thriving economy,” Omair Ansari, co-founder and CEO of ABHI, was quoted as saying.
Paul Melotto, CEO of Alraedah Digital Solutions, said both companies aim to redefine access to financial services and empower individuals and businesses across the region.
“Together, we aim to redefine access to financial services and empower individuals and businesses across the region,” he said.
Saudi tech company partners with Pakistan’s ABHI to launch financial services in Kingdom
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Saudi tech company partners with Pakistan’s ABHI to launch financial services in Kingdom
- ABHI, which also serves customers in UAE, was selected as one of Gulf country’s Future 100 companies last year
- Saudi tech company says partnership to empower Kingdom’s citizens, embolden private sector and foster economic growth
Pakistani military says 17 militants killed in multiple intelligence-based operations
- The statement comes days after a string of coordinated attacks killed over 50 people in Pakistan’s Balochistan
- Military says it killed five militants behind attacks in Balochistan, 12 others gunned down in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have killed 17 militants in multiple intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces, the Pakistani military said on Friday.
The intelligence-based operations came days after ethnic Baloch insurgents hit several civil and military targets in a string of coordinated attacks in Balochistan, killing more than 50 people.
Five militants were killed and three others injured in operations conducted in Balochistan’s Kech, Panjgur and Zhob districts on August 29-30, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
Another 12 militants were killed in Tirah Valley of KP’s Khyber tribal district on August 28-29, which brought the number of militants killed in the region since Aug. 20 to 37, while 14 others suffered injuries.
“The IBOs will continue till peace in the area is restored,” the ISPR said in a statement. “Security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country.”
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan, has witnessed a number of attacks on police, security forces and anti-polio vaccination teams in recent months, most of them claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Balochistan, which shares its border with Iran and Afghanistan, has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by separatist militants for the last two decades.
Many of Sunday’s attacks were claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most prominent of separatist groups waging a war of independence against the state, which it accuses of unfair exploitation of resources in the mineral-rich region. The government denies this.
Islamabad has blamed a number of recent attacks on militants operating out of neighboring Afghanistan. Kabul denies the allegations and says rising violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue for Islamabad.
Pakistan moves to convert three imported coal power plants to local fuel
- Government sets up four-member committee to provide recommendations on switching Chinese power plants to using Thar coal
- Energy ministry said last year Pakistan planned to quadruple its domestic coal-fired capacity, would not build new gas-fired plants
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ministry for energy this week set up a four-member committee to provide recommendations so Chinese power plants operating in the country can be shifted to coal from Pakistan’s Thar region rather than imported coal.
Neighboring China has set up over $20 billion worth of energy projects in Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Three coal-fired power plants of 1,320 megawatts each have been set up under CPEC, one in Sahiwal in 2017, another in Port Qasim in Karachi in 2018, and the third one in Balochistan’s Hub in 2019. All three run on imported coal, which costs over $1.5 billion per annum, according to a National University of Sciences & Technology study published this year.
The cost of electricity generated through imported coal stands at Rs20.02 per kilowatthour as opposed to indigenous coal at Rs14.19/kWh.
Pakistan, a country of more than 240 million people, depends chiefly on natural gas to produce electricity, but has been looking to boost coal-fired output to save costs. The country, with a total installed electricity generation capacity of approximately 41,268 megawatts, relies heavily on imported fuels, including on Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG), coal and furnace oil, which account for nearly 47 percent of its power generation mix.
“The Federal Ministry for Energy (Power Division) has been pleased to constitute the following committee for conversion of 03 imported coal based IPPs [independent power producers] to Thar coal, developed under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework,” the ministry said in a notification dated Aug. 28.
The committee led by the additional secretary of the power division will prepare technical and financial feasibility studies for the conversion of the plants to Thar coal. It will also “look into the logistics for transportation of coal from Thar mines to projects’ sites” and provide “recommendations, way forward and implementation plan [if feasible]” to the government.
Last February, the energy ministry said Pakistan planned to quadruple its domestic coal-fired capacity to reduce power generation costs and would not build new gas-fired plants in the coming years.
The transition could save Pakistan more than Rs200 billion a year in imports, translating to a decrease of as much as Rs2.5 per unit in the price of electricity, Awais Leghari, head of the energy ministry’s Power Division, said in an interview last month. The energy ministry told Arab News it did not have updated data on coal imports.
Energy experts said while it was feasible to convert the imported coal-fired power plants, it would take two to three years due to a lack of local coal.
“The electricity cost can be reduced by half by switching the imported coal power plants to the local fuel, but this cannot be done instantly,” Farhan Mahmood, head of research at Sherman Securities in Karachi, told Arab News.
He said local coal would cost around $50 per ton while imported coal was around $120 per ton, though the imported coal was of higher grade and efficiency, with comparatively less carbon emissions.
Mahmood said Pakistan was mining around 7.6 million tons of coal per annum from Thar and planning to boost it to 11 million tons in up to three years.
“We will have to first boost our mining capacity and quantity to meet the fuel demand of the power plants,” he said. “There is a dire need to enhance our local coal share in the energy mix to bring down the electricity prices and cut the import bill.”
Exorbitant power bills have led to street protests in Pakistan in recent months and calls to review contracts with IPPs, which produce expensive electricity.
Pakistan has been trying to cut down on the use of furnace oil for power generation and to boost natural gas-fired electricity production.
Pakistan release Shaheen Afridi from Bangladesh Test squad
- Shaheen, who welcomed his first child this month, was not part of the 12-member Pakistan squad announced on Thursday
- The opening day of the second Test match between Pakistan and Bangladesh was washed out by persistent rain on Friday
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan have released pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi from their squad for the second Test against Bangladesh, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Friday.
The opening day of the second Test match between Pakistan and Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium was washed out by persistent rain on Friday.
Shaheen, who welcomed his first child this month, was not part of the 12-member Pakistan squad announced on Thursday for the second Test.
“The team management has decided to release Shaheen Shah Afridi from the Test squad to allow him to spend time with his family,” the PCB said in a statement.
Bangladesh lead the two-match series 1-0 after they notched a historic 10-wicket win at the same venue last week when Pakistan were bowled out for an embarrassing 146 in the second innings on the fifth and final day.
Both teams are in the bottom half of the World Test Championship standings with Bangladesh at No. 7 and Pakistan at No. 8, just above last-place West Indies.
Embattled Pakistan, which have lost four Test matches in a row since Shan Masood was elevated as captain last year, haven’t won a home Test since they beat South Africa in December 2021. The remaining four Test matches against New Zealand and Australia were drawn.
Militant attacks in Pakistan’s Balochistan delay launch of China-backed airport
- More than 70 people were killed in the coordinated attacks across Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province this week
- Militants seeking the region’s secession have targeted forces, projects under $65-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor
ISLAMABAD: The start of operations at a Chinese-funded airport in Pakistan’s Balochistan province has been pushed back for a security review after last week’s deadly attacks by separatist militants in the area, government and aviation sources said.
More than 70 people were killed in the coordinated attacks across Balochistan, where militants seeking the resource-rich region’s secession have been targeting government forces and projects being developed as part of the $65-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, the program in Pakistan is also developing a deep-water port close to the new $200-million airport in Gwadar, a joint venture between Pakistan, Oman and China that is close to completion.
It will handle domestic and international flights, according to Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and will be one of the country’s biggest airports.
The initial plan was for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to inaugurate the airport on Aug. 14 alongside Chinese officials, but that was called off after an ethnic Baloch rights group started a sit-in protest, the officials said.
Following last week’s attacks, the deadliest in years, two officials at the CAA and two others in the Balochistan provincial government told Reuters the start of flights would be delayed as authorities review security in the region.
“The Chinese already had concerns about the security situation, and the recent attacks will definitely cause more delay,” one senior provincial government official said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Asked about the delay and security concerns, China’s Foreign Ministry said: “China is willing to work with the Pakistani side to continue to do a good job in the relevant security work and ensure the safe and smooth progress of the corridor construction.”
A provincial government spokesperson declined to comment and Pakistan’s information minister did not respond to a request for a comment.
Although no Chinese projects were targeted in the latest militant attacks, they have been frequently attacked in the past by the insurgents, who view China as a foreign invader trying to gain control of the region’s resources.
It is not clear whether Beijing has offered Pakistan direct assistance on the security management of Chinese projects.
Special Chinese security teams worked closely with Pakistani security agencies to trace the insurgents behind a suicide bombing which targeted Chinese teachers in the southern city of Karachi in 2022.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of several separatist militant groups involved in the low-level insurgency for decades, claimed responsibility for last week’s attacks.
Pakistan’s army said on Friday it had started intelligence-based operations against the militants to respond to the assaults.
Pakistan sees 60% more rains than usual this monsoon season — Met Office
- This year, Pakistan recorded its ‘wettest April since 1961’ with 59.3 millimeters of rainfall
- Heavy monsoon rains have triggered flash floods and killed nearly 250 Pakistanis since July 1
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has recorded 60 percent more rains than usual this monsoon season, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said on Friday, as heavy shower lashed several parts of the country.
The statement comes months after the South Asian country recorded its “wettest April since 1961,” receiving more than twice as much rain as the normal average of 22.5 millimeters for the month.
The monsoon season typically begins in Pakistan in late June and continues until mid-September. The country has seen erratic changes in its weather patterns in recent years that scientists have blamed on climate change.
“Overall in country, Pakistan has seen 60 percent more rains [this monsoon season],” PMD Director-General Mehr Sahibzad Khan said at a press conference on Friday.
“In August, 137 percent more rains were received, including 10 percent more in Azad Kashmir, 239 percent in Balochistan, 25 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the most rains were recorded in Sindh at 318 percent.”
Heavy monsoon showers have triggered flash floods across Pakistan and killed nearly 250 people in rain-related incidents since July 1, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The country’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) on Thursday warned of heavy rains and thunderstorms in parts of the Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan provinces in the next 72 hours.
Pakistan is recognized as one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change effects. While the South Asian country recorded its “wettest April since 1961” with 59.3 millimeters of rainfall, some areas of the country faced a deadly heat wave in May and June.
In 2022, unusually heavy rains triggered flash floods in many parts of the country, killing over 1,700 people, inflicting economic losses of around $30 billion, and affecting at least 30 million people.
