@Yobramos4
Players in the postal industry have decried underfunding of the sector as they try to implement technology in their business models.
Speaking during the second annual East Africa Communication Organisation post and logistics forum in Mombasa on Wednesday, the sector players, however, said the underfunding has been self-inflicted.
East Africa Communication Organisation executive secretary Ali Simba said players in the sector have lost faith in themselves and believe the postal business is dying, thus do not care to increase their visibility.
“Such has a ripple effect. The regulator now looks at postal operators not as important as other sectors especially our telephone industry,” he said.
However, Simba said with growing innovation there has been a turnaround lately.
More than 93 per cent of postal operators, he said, are providing some form of digital services as the post services adopt changes to conform to the changing world.
Communication Authority acting director general Christopher Wambua said in 2021 the global parcel shipping volume amounted to over 159 billion parcels.
In less than six years, the volume is expected to rise to 256 billion parcels shipped in 2027 at a compound annual growth rate of 8.5 per cent
“This is a huge opportunity for the postals,” Simba said.
“What we see are postal services which are innovative and we expect a lot of changes. With all these technologies and all the new ideas, if we don’t have funding, it will amount to nothing,” Simba warned.
However, Information, Communication and Digital Economy CS Eliud Owalo challenged the sector players to be innovative and find ways of funding themselves.
He said waiting on government funding is not sustainable.
“Gone are the days when government year in, year out would continue pumping money into public sector organisations which are not sustainable,” the CS said.
“Your survival will depend on your level of creativity and innovation. It is not the business of government to take part in business. It is the business of government to create an enabling environment for both public sector organisations and the private sector to thrive.”
He said postal organisations are competing in business with private sector entities.
“So you need to anticipate what changes are likely to take place so that you are ahead of the change. You have to be proactive, innovative, creative, and agile to survive in that operational environment.
“Don’t just rely fully on government support through exchequer disbursements. That will not be sustainable,” Owalo said.
He said the postal services players have to come up with new ways of revenue streams.
In Kenya, Owalo said, the Postal Corporation of Kenya is already taking steps by trying to do deliveries for the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority and last mile deliveries of parcels.
“But that is just a drop in the ocean compared to the enormous potential that we have in the market,” the CS said.
He said Kenya will soon have an e-commerce strategy that will help harness the potential in the sector.
The sector players said the posts and logistics industry in envisaged to play a key role in the transformational journey of the region.
“It is the livelihood of the e-commerce in Kenya and the broader EAC region,” Owalo said.
The surge of e-commerce in the region underscores the pivotal significance of the postal and courier sector, which Owalo said in on the threshold of unprecedented change where innovation is key.
He said the industry operates in a dynamic environment which keeps on changing by the day.
“We cannot continue with the traditional business models that we have been used to in the postal sector. We have to re-orient our business models to survive or to remain relevant,” Owalo said.
He said adoption of cutting-edge technology is paramount.
The postal sector in the region, he said, has the widest network of any other industry.
He said it is this expansive network that the sector must leverage on to excel in last mile deliveries and connectivity.
“Digital competences must be cultivated and regulatory frameworks finely tuned to harmonise with the new landscape. We must adopt technology. It is the single most critical success factor for the postal corporations,” Owalo said.
He said the governments should be ready to provide policy, legal and regulatory interventions depending on unfolding events from time to time.
Kenya has constituted a sector working group to discern the operational environment, analyse the changes and emerging issues in the operational environment, look at best cases practices elsewhere, and advise on policy, legal and regulatory perspective on the necessary interventions that are needed in the entire information, communication, technology and digital economy sector.
“So that we create an enabling environment for both government entities and private sector to remain relevant and thrive in based on those changes in the operational environment,” Owalo said.
Pan African Postal Union secretary general Sifundo Chief Moyo said the region has to improve its already vast network of the posts and logistics sector.
Universal Postal Union executive office director Mutua Muthusi said quality training is key to achieving digital transformation for the postal industry.
He said digitisation has a huge impact on the postal and communications industry.