UPU News:- Reform your Posts’ business, DG tells Africa

PU Director General Bishar A. Hussein has urged African governments to reform the operations of their designated postal operators to make them more responsive to modern realities and meet changing customer demands.

UPU Director General Bishar A. Hussein (left) meets with Cameroonian Prime Minister Philémon Yang (right) to discuss African postal services.

He said the Post in Africa should be revamped to contribute more to the national economic and social development of their respective countries.

“Africa is the top emerging market not only for the Post, but also most other economic activities, and I would like to urge leaders on the continent to reform their designated operators with a view to making them contribute more to their national economies,” Hussein said.

The UPU Director General told the 35^th Pan African Postal Union Conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon, that the UPU has spent almost 40 per cent of its multi-year integrated project budget to assist African Posts. He  said, however, that such assistance was not enough and called on the continent’s governments to invest more in the development of their respective Posts.

“The UPU is committed to helping African Posts achieve their full potential with technical advice and  assistance. The success of Africa’s postal network, however, depends on its leadership, focus and investment,” said Hussein.

At the same time, Hussein thanked African ministers for their very positive response to participating in the UPU Ministerial Conference that will take place alongside the UPU Congress. He also urged African countries to update their membership status so as to be able to fully participate in the Union’s decision-making forums.

Support

During the PAPU high-level decision-making conference, delegates unanimously supported the proposal for reforming the UPU and pledged to back it at the forthcoming 26^th Congress.

The proposed reform would include merging the Council of Administration and Postal Operations Council into one body, the UPU Council, to speed-up decision-making, reducing the number of meetings and minimizing work duplication.

Hussein also called on African governments to partner with the Post and use its vast network to deliver services to their citizens during a meeting with Cameroonian Prime Minister Philémon Yang in Yaoundé. Hussein underlined that such partnerships would enable governments to access citizens even in the most remote areas and offer services at lower costs.

The prime minister said Cameroon’s Post was in a good position to partner with its government on government services because of its well-connected network, which would enable easy access to information. Furthermore, he requested that the UPU assist with capacity-building for the country’s postal personnel to help them achieve this goal.