As African countries commemorate Pan Africa Postal Union, PAPU, Day on Wednesday, a call has been made for the continent to embrace e-commerce as a significant economic booster in the region’s postal industry.
The call was made in statements by the PAPU’s secretary general, Mr Sifundo Chief Moyo, and the Nigerian Postal Service, respectively, on Tuesday.
This year’s PAPU day celebration is themed ‘the Post: An established promoter of cross-border e-commerce in Africa’ to create awareness of new opportunities in the sector.
Mr Moyo said the theme “speaks to the broader agenda of the digital transformation of the traditional Post into the “Smart Post” built on new technologies for holistic and integrated service delivery”.
“Therefore, informed by the common value proposition of positioning the Post as the preferred promoter of cross-border e-commerce in Africa. All postal players are called upon to use every capacity-building opportunity offered to expose their employees to acquire the skills and knowledge needed to pursue our historical role as significant players of inclusive socio-economic development for the benefit of the citizenry of our dear continent”.
Also, the Deputy Director of International Operations NIPOST, Mr Haobu Zoaka, said the economic impact of the day is to encourage Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs to strive.
“It promotes African Post and its development in the Postal industry.
“The title of this year is African Post as a promoter of cross-border e-commerce. It means harnessing SMEs opportunities in the industry.
“The impact can be imagined when e-commerce is projected, and the Nigeria SMEs market get orders across borders.
“Nigeria postal service will key into the theme and encourage SMEs to strive,” he said.
Africa’s Postal Leaders set aside PAPU Day each year to commemorate the establishment of its continental flagship organization on 18th January 1980 and celebrate the African Postal Customer.
