adminAddressing a three-day workshop on Customer Focus and Quality Management which the Pan African Postal Union (PAPU) organised, Universal Postal Union (UPU) regional project co-coordinator for Southern Africa, Gladys Mutyavaviri, said all barriers hindering development of the postal sector should be eliminated.
“In Africa, political boundaries lead to disintegrated postal territory as opposed to the UPU’s single postal territory, which is the case in Europe.
“The issue of visas is stifling the movement of parcels across the borders, which need to be addressed urgently to exploit the maximum contribution of the sector to economic development of Africa,” she said.
Mutyavaviri said some procedures at ports of entry were delaying the movement of goods and parcels.
“There is a lot of bureaucratic processes at our borders. Even just in the Southern African Development Community one faces a lot of challenges at the borders.
“The process should not be rigorous as it negatively affects the quality of business in the postal network in Africa,” Mutyavaviri said.
Established in 1874, the UPU is a specialised agency of the United Nations which is responsible for co-ordinating postal development activities worldwide, while PAPU, which was formed in 1980, is a specialised agency of the African Union to spearhead development of postal service on the continent.
Mutyavaviri urged African governments to put the postal sector on their work plan since it has the potential to contribute to Gross Domestic Product.
“If governments put the sector on their government work plan funding can be obtained from international financiers like the World Bank,” she said. — New Ziana.
Online Reporter