Posta Kenya wants to transform its outlets into communications solutions hubs that will offer e-Payment, e-Governance, and E-commerce solutions.
This is among the strategies that the struggling parastatal plans to put in place as recovery measures.
Postmaster General and CEO John Tonui, said postal services are a key contributor to the growth of e-commerce, with Business to Customer (B2C) e-commerce being most effective where there is high reliability of postal services.
"Posta is keen on improving service delivery and optimise their current operations, before focusing on fashionable, idealistic concepts of droids and drone deliveries," said Tonui.
He added that Posta Kenya needs support from the Universal Service Fund (USF) to subsidise operations of 300 offices, which do not make any business sense.
“While under the Universal Service Obligation, under the 1948 Charter we are supposed to serve those postal networks as well,” he added.
Communications Authority of Kenya acting director general Christopher Wambua said the government was instituting regulatory and policy interventions to closely regulate the changing postal and courier market.
He said the expansion of ICT and public postal networks particularly in unserved and underserved areas of the country will be undertaken through the (USF).
“We are collaborating with the Information Communication Technology Authority to lay 2500 kilometres of fibre in unserved and underserved areas," he said.
He said the authority will invest Sh5 billion into the initiative and once rural areas areas are digitised e-commerce and e-government, which will stimulate the rural economy.
Wambua said the plans involve the rollout of digital infrastructure and hubs across the country to accommodate postal outlets in order to ensure universal access to postal services.
According to McKinsey & Company, the e-commerce mega-trend is expected to fuel a $9 trillion retail opportunity by 2025, creating opportunities that no postal player should give up without a fight.
Parcel logistics, from pickup to delivery, are steadily becoming the most important enabler of that growth, given that an estimated 70 to 80 percent of all e-commerce purchases are delivered via networks rather than picked up in store.
"In line with our ICT Policy, the government is committed to integrating courier and postal services into the digital marketplace and delivering e-services to our citizens through this network," said Senior Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Information, Communication and Digital Economy Hezron Nyaberi.