SDC representatives meet farmers benefiting from WeGro, iPAGE Global

Representatives of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) met with different types of farmers working with and benefiting from the organisations like WeGro Technologies Limited and iPAGE Global Inc at Satiantola under Sadar upazila in Bogura.

The co-branded debit card for WeGro farmers was also inaugurated in presence of members from Dhaka Bank PLC and Visa, according to a press release.

With this card, WeGro farmers can access their Dhaka Bank PLC loans and purchase essential inputs such as seeds, fertilisers, etc from the input centres.

This card is a milestone towards the digitalization of financial services for farmers in Bangladesh, especially in rural areas where farmers are doing cashless transactions.

The SDC representatives also talked with around 30 small farmers to hear their challenges and how WeGro and the bank are changing their working conditions and income level.

At the time, Dhaka Bank PLC team opened the bank accounts for a few farmers within a very short time and also issued co-branded debit visa cards and received appreciation from the Swiss team.

The programme was attended by Rosenthaler, Head of Section Asia; Markus Baechler, Programme Manager; Rebecca Bucherer Thematic Regional Adviser for PSE and Inclusive Development; Ameena Chowdhury, Programme Manager and Syeda Zinia Rashid, Senior Programme Officer from the SDC. And from Dhaka Bank, H M MostafizurRahaman, Executive Vice President & Head of Retail Business, Md Katebur Rahman, Senior Vice President & Head of Agriculture Banking Unit, were present. Siraj Siddiquey Shakil, Director of Product and Solution at Visa South Asia, was also present.

It was a follow-up visit by the SDC to observe and exchange views of many stakeholders benefiting from the work of the agriculture-based impact start-ups WeGro and iPAGE. Both organizations were the recipients of the BiniyogBriddhi IRMF impact fund, which focused on scaling the impact of these enterprises.

B-Briddhi is a multi-year partnership between the Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh, Roots of Impact, LightCastle Partners, and other stakeholders including investors, private sector organizations, incubators, and support organizations for impact enterprises.

The impact enterprises were represented by Mashrur H Shurid, Chief Executive Officer at iPAGE Global Inc; Md Mahmudur Rahman, Chief Executive Officer; and Md Alvi Rahman, Chief Operating Officer of WeGro Technologies Limited.