World Bank approves $70m loan for Punjab digital connectivity programme

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved a $70 million loan for Punjab’s Connected Punjab Programme, aimed at widening broadband access, improving delivery of digital public services and promoting cashless transactions in the province.

According to a World Bank statement, the programme is intended to work alongside Pakistan’s wider national digital agenda. The statement said the federal government is investing in national digital public infrastructure through the Digital Economy Enhancement Project (Deep), while the Connected Punjab Programme is designed to build on that base so that national platforms, policies and connectivity investments produce practical benefits for people and businesses in Punjab.

World Bank Country Director for Pakistan Bolormaa Amgaabazar said digital connectivity had become essential infrastructure for economic opportunity. She said the federal government had set out an ambitious digital vision for the country and that the Punjab programme would help extend that effort across the province. She added that broader broadband coverage and a stronger digital backbone would create more opportunities for citizens, particularly women and young people, to take part in the economy and obtain better public services.

“Digital connectivity is no longer a luxury, it is the infrastructure of opportunity”, said Bolormaa Amgaabazar, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan. “The federal government has laid out a bold vision for Pakistan’s digital future, and Connected Punjab is how that vision reaches the doorsteps of millions of people across the province,” she noted. “By expanding broadband access and strengthening Punjab’s digital backbone, the programme will open new doors for citizens, especially women and youth, to participate more fully in the economy and access better public services”, it stated.

Broadband and private investment targets

The programme seeks to address regulatory and cost-related obstacles that the World Bank says are discouraging private investment in broadband infrastructure, especially in underserved urban areas. One of its targets is to cut average Right-of-Way permit processing time from 90 days to 21 days.

By June 2031, the programme aims to help expand fixed broadband coverage through private sector investment from 7.8 million to 9.9 million people, bringing about 2.1 million more people online. It also targets at least $50 million in private capital investment in digital infrastructure.

Digital services and payments

The World Bank said another major focus of the programme is shared digital infrastructure and institutional capacity to support scalable, AI-enabled public service delivery across Punjab’s provincial and local agencies. Under the plan, government computing infrastructure will be strengthened to enable public agencies to develop and run AI-powered services at scale.

By June 2031, the programme aims to reach 28.9 million people through improved digitally enabled public services. It also includes a gender target, with the share of women using digital government services projected to rise from 19 per cent to 30pc.

The programme also includes measures to reduce reliance on cash transactions in Punjab. According to the World Bank statement, this part of the initiative will involve establishing a Digital Invoice Management System and creating interoperable payment infrastructure linking payments, invoices and government reporting. The goal is to have 350,000 people actively using cashless payment systems by June 2031.

Shahbaz Khan, senior digital specialist at the World Bank in Pakistan, said Pakistan’s newly developed Digital and AI Compact had set the national direction, while Deep was creating the digital public infrastructure backbone at the federal level.

“Connected Punjab is the provincial expression of that same ambition, complementing federal investments by expanding fibre connectivity through private sector facilitation, deploying locally relevant AI-enabled services, and building a digital payments ecosystem that supports formalisation and inclusive growth across the province. “Together, these investments form a coherent and mutually reinforcing digital transformation agenda for Pakistan.m”, the statement added.

The World Bank said the $70 million financing from its International Development Association forms part of a wider government investment programme valued at $278 million, including $208 million in counterpart funding from the Punjab government.