Digital bank: The missed bus to the future
If digital banking were a cricket match, Bangladesh would still be warming up while Kenya and Ghana are already batting in the Super Over. The idea is simple: if a country wants to take banking to the unbanked, it must go where the unbanked actually live, outside traditional banking halls, far away from the marble floors and token queues. Most African nations figured this out early.
27 November 2025, 18:00 PM
Living with stress
At a college reunion, everyone began boasting about promotions, new cars, and busy lives. Still, within minutes, the conversation shifted to stress, exhaustion, and the familiar Bangladeshi complaint that the country was draining them.
20 November 2025, 18:00 PM
Trust beyond numbers
If you have ever seen a group photograph of professional accountants, you might notice something curious. Everyone looks serious, composed, almost expressionless. It is not that accountants dislike joy. They simply know that smiling in public can lead to someone asking for “just a quick look at my accounts”, which is never quick, never simple and rarely free of emotional pain.
6 November 2025, 18:00 PM
The art of letting go
Last Eid-ul-Azha, I watched my mama in Banani decide he would handle the entire qurbani himself: choosing the cow, doing the paperwork, collecting the cash, sending out the cuts, even cooking the curry while wearing a whistle for some reason.
30 October 2025, 18:00 PM
Why you need to be bored
If you ever find yourself stuck in traffic at Mohakhali Flyover, you will probably notice your hand reaching for your phone before the CNG ahead even coughs out a cloud of black smoke.
23 October 2025, 19:45 PM
The courage to copy
If you walk into a startup pitch competition in Dhaka, it often feels like going to a winter wedding. Everyone wears the same panjabi and waistcoat, and talks about disruption in the same polished accent they learned from a YouTube video.
16 October 2025, 18:00 PM
OPINION / Signals of change: Telecom Policy 2025
Bangladesh’s Telecommunication Network and Licensing Policy 2025 represents the most ambitious reform since the 2010 ILDTS framework
9 October 2025, 14:43 PM
Purpose beyond profit
A CEO in Dhaka once gathered his managers and declared with great seriousness, “Our company has only one purpose: to maximise profit.
2 October 2025, 18:00 PM
Why we make wrong decisions – instant gratification
One of the things that I learned while dealing with professional marketeers is that instant gratification is very important for any successful product promotion. But I often wonder why people prefer instant gratification.
20 October 2022, 18:00 PM
The death of traditional telecoms: Is it imminent?
Don’t panic! Telecoms are not going anywhere! But technology will certainly be hugely disrupted with the advent of high bandwidth and low-latency satellite internet.
13 October 2022, 18:00 PM
Why we make wrong decisions – error of values
As a CEO, I had once asked the chief procurement officer and the chief technology officer to deliver 50 per cent savings on radio network items for the implementation of an ambitious growth plan. They looked at each other in disbelief and told me that they had already squeezed the vendors so much in the last few years that it would simply be impossible.
6 October 2022, 18:00 PM
Does Bangladesh need 5G now?
During a rural market visit a few years ago, I discovered, to my amusement, a keen interest in 5G penetration among the villagers. When I asked why they need 5G at all, as most did not have a smartphone, their shy excuses said it all. And why not, I urged them. There is nothing wrong with dreaming high.
29 September 2022, 18:00 PM
Japan steps in to stem yen falls
Japan intervened in the foreign exchange market on Thursday to buy yen for the first time since 1998, in an attempt to shore up the battered currency after the Bank of Japan stuck with ultra-low interest rates.
22 September 2022, 18:00 PM
Why we make wrong decisions – error of odds
A reporter once asked a corporate CEO about the secret of his success. His response was two words.
22 September 2022, 18:00 PM
Does Bangladesh need a separate digital bank?
Since I started my consultancy operation, my initial focus was on the areas of digital transformation of banks.
15 September 2022, 18:00 PM
Driving transformation in good or bad times
We all know about the funny story of Nasiruddin Hojja and his donkey.
9 September 2022, 05:00 AM
Digital economy or high tax revenue?
An irony of most third-world countries is that honest taxpayers pay more tax and need to be more compliant than those who tend to dodge the system. Not only that, often honest taxpayers even end up getting fined for non-compliance!
1 September 2022, 18:00 PM
Success and satisfaction do not always come hand in hand
A very interesting research was conducted in the US between two groups, one having won a million-dollar lottery and the other having lost a limb in accidents.
25 August 2022, 18:00 PM
Life without internet? And pigs can fly!
Just take a few seconds to imagine what life may be like without the internet. There will be no Amazon or Daraz, no foodpanda orders, no Google Maps, no Netflix, no online games, no online study, widening of digital divide, no IR 4.0, no video calls and the list can go on.
18 August 2022, 18:00 PM
Inflation widening rich-poor gap
In recent months, inflation has taken the world by storm, impacting not only Bangladesh but also countries in the first world. I have learned a few things from my wife through it all.
11 August 2022, 18:00 PM
IR 4.0 for Idiots!
Late last year, I had the opportunity to attend a daylong workshop on IR 4.0 (The Fourth Industrial Revolution) where the speakers included a number of high-level government officials from multiple ministries and institutions.
4 August 2022, 18:00 PM
What to expect when top boss is incompetent?
It is small wonder what happens when a politically-backed chief executive officer of a government construction company gets rewarded for his political affiliation by getting appointed as the top executive in a multinational company (MNC) of a technical and digital nature.
28 July 2022, 18:00 PM
Our love for the Big 4!
When it comes to the Big 4, the corporate trust instincts set in for good reasons but is it time to question if such blind reliance is the best practice always?
14 July 2022, 18:00 PM
Is the next generation ready to take the baton?
I had just come out of a meeting with my friend who is a prominent banker and this very interesting conversation ensued when I told him that I am keen to help family businesses in Bangladesh with my knowledge and experience.
1 July 2022, 04:15 AM
Is the devil outside or inside the organisation?
In my last job during the time between 2014 and 2016, the company performance was well below the mark, with 2016 being a serious disaster.
17 June 2022, 04:30 AM
Boss is not always right!
I used to have a positional big boss who was new to the job and hardly had knowledge of the industry or the multinational way of working. Every time, my team put up a proposal to him, he would look at others in the meeting instead of me while knowing all too well where the right level of knowledge was to be found.
27 May 2022, 03:00 AM
Happy marriage between management and accountants
A man piloting a hot air balloon discovers that he is hopelessly lost. He descends to a lower altitude and locates a man on the ground and shouts, “excuse me sir, can you tell me where I am?” The man below says, “yes, you are in a hot air balloon, about twenty feet above ground.”
13 May 2022, 04:30 AM
Mid-career crisis
After my 2002 performance review, I got the best performance rating. But my increment was negligible.
28 April 2022, 18:00 PM