Delegates to the 35th Administrative Council of the Pan African Postal Union are meeting in Yaounde.
The traditional service of postal operators that hinged on mail (business mail with the issuance of bank statements and invoices as well as post cards) is changing following the introduction of Information and Communication Technologies. Experts at the Administrative Council of the Pan African Postal Union, PAPU, which opened in Yaounde yesterday July 18, 2016, agree that the postal environment is undergoing sweeping changes that demand a rethink of operations and decision-making as well as working methods and activities.
The Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Minette Libom Li Likeng, while opening the meeting, said it was imperative to have a clear-cut plan of activities for 2016-2020 for endorsement at the Plenipotentiary Ordinary Conference ahead of the Istanbul congress in September and October 2016 in Turkey. Minister Minette Libom Li Likeng stated that innovation, integration and inclusion were development pillars of postal activities on the continent.
Solidarity and common understanding of the African cause is primordial, the Secretary General of PAPU, Younouss Djibrine stated. Improving operational efficiency with the development of e-commerce, developing financial activities (financial inclusion) through digital services, the diversification of services and reforms as well as seeking sustainable development in the postal services are priority areas.
It is about the transformation of the postal world to adapt to the customer’s needs based on confidence and trust, delegates hold. They argue that postal operators have contact points and provide interconnected services on new forms of postal activity like financial inclusion and e-commerce. The Yaounde confab is seeking ways to adapt the strategic goals of PAPU.
Checking what services sell best as well as adapting to digital revolution faced by operators all over the world today is the challenge. The mission of postal operators is to serve the population and at the same time, make profit, delegates say. The Minister of Posts and Telecommunications seized the opportunity to call on delegates to throw their weight behind the incumbent Secretary General of PAPU, Younouss Djibrine, as he seeks re-election.
