CC Image courtesy of Nealoveselectricity
Kenya’s ICT minister has urged players in the postal services to tap more from technology as increasingly more Kenyans order goods from abroad online, meaning ICT offers more opportunities than threats.
Speaking during the Fifth Annual Postal Couriers’ Stakeholders Forum under the theme Stimulating Growth in the Postal/Courier Industry Through Innovation, Fred Okiengo Matiangi told the meeting a framework for facilitating e-commerce in the country currently under development was almost ready.
“Indeed, the only vehicle for development and growth is continuous innovation,” Matiangi said. “I therefore challenge the postal and courier industry to continue creating new products and new ways of business in tandem with ever changing needs of customers.”
He added that the ministry had also already contacted the Universal Postal Union to develop a master plan that would guide modernisation of the Kenya postal service and development of the postal/courier sub sector in general.
He challenged particularly the Postal Corporation of Kenya to embrace online financial payment citing that its wide reach was its strong point.
Meanwhile, the minister announced the corporation had completed pilots for the national addressing project in Nairobi and would replicate the project throughout the country.
“The achievement of the National Addressing System will provide an excellent opportunity for the players in this forum to grow their businesses through home delivery of postal/courier items among others. I therefore call upon the stakeholders in this Forum,” Matiangi concluded.
