Islamabad, Aug 31: Internet outages in Pakistan this month are causing alarm among businesses already struggling in a troubled economy. Executives, investors, and tech industry leaders warn that these disruptions are hurting business operations and making investors nervous.
This occurs at a pivotal moment when Pakistan’s ability to break free from its ongoing economic problems hinges on the expansion of its information technology sector. Internet monitoring organizations have noted a discernible decline in internet speeds as well as service outages impacting well-known websites such as WhatsApp, the popular messaging program owned by Meta that is extensively utilized in Pakistan.
The head of TRG, a significant venture capital business in Pakistan, Nadeem Elahi, is raising the alarm about the nation’s escalating internet issues.
The biggest outsourcing business in Pakistan is managed by Elahi’s organization, and he claims that this year’s internet connectivity is the worst he has experienced.
He calculates that there has been a 30%–40% decline in the quality of internet connections. According to Elahi, if we wish to draw in customers from around the world for our commercial processing operations, we need dependable internet.
One of the biggest challenges facing Pakistan’s technology industry, which is a rare bright light in an otherwise faltering economy, is unstable internet access. The nation’s expanding IT labor force, which includes independent contractors and software developers, is essential to the government’s efforts to increase exports and draw in foreign capital.
This is significant since Pakistan has had to request bailouts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) twenty-six times due to a persistent lack of foreign currency. In spite of these obstacles, the State Bank of Pakistan reports that IT exports surged by 24% to a record $3.2 billion in the June-ended fiscal year.
Recent internet failures, nevertheless, pose a threat to this advancement. Co-founder of i2i Ventures, a venture capital firm that focuses on Pakistan, Kalsoom Lakhani issues a warning, saying that the nation’s standing with foreign investors is being harmed by the internet issues.
