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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
THE Covid-19 pandemic is a wake-up call for the postal and telecommunications industry to adapt to modern digital trends so as to remain relevant.

This comes amid reports the industry suffered a 21 percent decrease in cross border exchanges in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period the previous year as a result of effect of the global pandemic.

Giving his keynote speech at the start of the 39th Ordinary Session of the Pan African Postal Union (Papu) Administrative Council and 10th Ordinary Session of the elective Plenipotentiary Conference which is underway here, Information Communication Technologies (ICT) Postal and Courier Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere implored designated operators working together with respective governments to put more effort on revolutionising the postal sector.

The local postal industry has been on an offensive upgrading its services especially through development of Information Communication Centres countrywide.

“Covid-19 pandemic has put pressure on international postal supply chains to unprecedented levels. Cross-border exchanges for example, decreased by 21 percent between 23 January 2020 and 14 May 2020 compared to the same period the previous year.

“As supply chains have been strongly disrupted worldwide, the weakest links of the postal network have been exposed and that should be taken as a blessing in disguise. This therefore calls for us especially the working committees, the Administrative Council included to put our heads together and come up with lasting solutions so that the post continues to be relevant even after the pandemic,” he said.

He commended the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the umbrella body of postal unions worldwide for working with governments to ensure that the sector remains relevant.

He singled out Cote d’Ivoire for pioneering “ecom@africa” which he said will make the West Africa country the e-commerce hub for West Africa through the project funded by UPU.

Embracing technology is expected to generate revenue for the postal industry while also presenting an opportunity for implementing corporate social responsibility commitments and improving visibility and brand recognition.

This will also improve livelihoods and cross-selling of postal services, he said.

“The chain will go on and on thus revealing the relevance of the Post in today’s world of business,” said Dr Muswere.

He commended the Administrative Council for encouraging members, Zimbabwe included, to implement the Customs Declaration System (CDS), an interoperable customs declaration system, which allows messages to be exchanged between customs and designated operators so that customs formalities can be completed prior to the arrival of postal items.

He said the system has many benefits that include reduction of handling times and increased output, improved communication between designated operators and customs, framework for security alerts and support integration with e-commerce systems.

The Administrative Council has also amended statutes to increase PAPU member states from 20 to 25 to give the continental postal body more power.

Outgoing PAPU secretary general Mr Gjibrine Younnous urged member states to uphold the spirit of Africanism.

Zimbabwe’s postmaster general Mr Sifundo Chief Moyo is Zimbabwe’s candidate for the secretary general post and has the backing of Sadc region against Egypt’s Mr Sameh Solaiman who is head of international cooperation sector.

President Mnangagwa will officially open the conference on Friday. — @ncubeleon