Ooredoo are teaming up with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women to develop a franchise model that will enable 30,000 women in Myanmar to become entrepreneurs by selling prepaid Ooredoo airtime within their communities.
The programme will equip women with a business kits that will contain a mobile phone, promotional materials and an operating manual. The women will also receive hands-on training on how to run their business.
“Across our footprint, we seek to partner with grassroots organisations and NGOs to deliver on-the-ground support that will empower women,” said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al Thani, chairman, Ooredoo. “As we begin operating in Myanmar, we’re looking to create tens of thousands of new jobs in the retail sector, with a particular focus on engaging women microentrepreneurs.”
According to research conducted by the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, women entrepreneurs can add significant value to the operations of mobile companies, selling products such as SIM cards and mobile airtime.
According to a statement from Ooredoo to announce the programme, the women mobile agents will benefit from additional income and can reinvest those profits back into their families and communities. Other advantages include the need for less start-up capital as well as being generally more trusted by other women, meaning they can reach a wider cross-section of society.
Ooredoo, one of two international companies that won international telecommunications licences in June, also recently announced that it has recently began operating out of a new location at Yangon’s MICT Park in Hlaing township.
Speaking at the venue’s opening ceremony, Ross Cormack, CEO of Ooredoo Myanmar said, “We are committed to working closely with Myanmar Information and Communication Technology community, the ministry and the government as it institutes a legislative framework for the telecommunications industry that is aligned with international and GSM standards. We continue to work alongside the appropriate regulatory authorities as we advance towards the next stage in this process.”
