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Noble Ncube, Business Reporter
THE postal and courier services continues to be hit hard by technological advancement, recording a 1,8 percent dip in the fourth quarter to December 2015.
In a sector performance report released last week, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe said revenues generated by the licensed postal and courier operators declined to $5 982 785 from $6 093 155 recorded in the third quarter.
“International incoming postal and courier increased by 3,4 percent to record 471 206 items in the quarter under review from 455 902 recorded in the previous quarter. This increase can be attributed to the festive season as is the trend. On the other hand local postal and courier as well as international outgoing postal and courier registered declines,” said POTRAZ.
Zimpost managing director Dr Douglas Zimbango said the figures showed a decline because there was slow growth in use of letters between customers. This has been substituted by use of mobile phones and internet services.
“The decline in volumes was driven mainly by the decline in the ordinary letter category due to electronic substitution. This is the trend the world over that ordinary mail volumes are on the decline.
“However, we have other services in the mail category that have experienced growth and these are small packets and parcels. We will continue to focus on the growth areas to ensure we fully enjoy the benefits of this growth,” he said.
Dr Zimbango said his organisation was working on quality of service to ensure that customers are happy with their services.
Zimpost’s money transfer service, ZipCash has significantly been expanding as more markets have been penetrated.
“Diversification is the route to go considering that our core product of letters is going down. We are now doing agency banking for a number of banks and this has brought convenience to the transacting public.
“We are also offering agency services to a number of principals. Zimpost is positioning itself for growth and we are excited about the developments that are taking place with regards to the diversification process,” said Dr Zimbango.
The Potraz Sector Report highlighted that the number of post offices had no change from the previous quarter.
The report noted that there were 226 postal outlets of which 70 had internet connection.
Dr Zimbago said Zimpost has embarked on various diversification projects which are meant to make them relevant in the fast pacing technological environment that makes use of the internet in doing business.
Online Reporter