Not long ago – before the advent of e-mail and text messaging – a postal address was a necessity, just as licking stamps to stick on an outgoing letter was a symbol of literacy.
Postal Corporation of Kenya, the State-owned company that runs mail-delivery, was so much in demand that it expanded to every corner of the country.
Then came the dotcom revolution with e-mail, which made communication faster compared to postal mail for those accessible to an internet connection. Add the mobile phone and snail mail’s goose was as good as cooked.
But stung by dwindling revenues as more people turn to e-mail, texting and other forms of instant communication, PCK is fighting back.
“Rather than complain about a technological reality, the solution will be to take advantage of technology to complement business,” said Post Master General Hussein Ali.
Posta plans to launch an e-mail service targeting mainly rural areas, where e-mail messages will be printed out at its more than 800 post offices countrywide and delivered to recipients.
More than 80 per cent of the population in Kenya lives in rural areas where access to computers and internet is limited, even though the government and donor-funded digital villages project is expected to change this.
Posta is playing catch up to technology in an era where tech companies are making communication not just fast, but also as private as possible through PIN with phones and passwords for e-mail.
“We shall be required to go much further and faster to keep pace with the speed and scale of the digital revolution,” said Maj-Gen Ali, who took over in September last year.
He said this was one of the strategies the corporation was banking on to wrestle the mail delivery market from its rivals apart from strengthening its electronic money transfer service, Postapay, and improving efficiency.
Speaking on Wednesday at a Pan-African Postal Union (Papu) meeting in Nairobi convened to draw a common position for the continent at the Universal Postal Unions summit in October, he said the corporation had been grappling with the challenges with its traditional mail delivery and cash transfer services. The summit will be held in Nairobi.
While many experts are sceptic, some say it’s not too late for Posta.
“This is why active participation in Papu is required as it will help such companies attain their goals by embracing technology and strategic partnerships,” said Mr Charles Njoroge, a director of Communications Commission of Kenya, the industry regulator.
Mobile companies have launched cash-transfer services, which have almost rendered Posta’s money order irrelevant.
Postapay was recently embroiled in controversy over its integrity. “This is neither gloom nor doom,” said Maj-Gen Ali.
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