selection by the Universal Postal Union ( UPU ) as one of the countries to roll out regional e-commerce hubs in East Africa . The National Logistics Hub , located in Industrial area , Nairobi has revolutionized Posta ’ s e-commerce to become a firstclass clearing and forwarding system in the wider sub-Saharan region .
In November 2019 , Posta Kenya collaborated with Safaricom PLC to launch MPost , a mobile-based innovation that allows users ’ to receive letters and parcels from the Post Office . Through the service , subscribers have been offered virtual post office boxes linked to their individual mobile phone numbers .
MPost comes in handy to those who wish to buy and ship items from overseas merchants and use postal services for last mile delivery . Through MPost , we hope to leverage on over 40 million mobile users to deliver parcels and postal items while tracking them through the value chain .
This is one of the reasons behind the Government ’ s formation of National Addressing System ( NAS ) National Steering Committee to develop a National Addressing System Policy , National Addressing Bill and County Addressing Bill to be submitted to the National Assembly for deliberation and enactment in due course .
The Government has also established Kenya Transport and Logistics Network ( KTLN ), a new agency that is expected to lower the cost of doing business in the country , through the provision of costeffective infrastructure for the ports , rail and pipeline seamlessly . We are keen on being part and parcel of KTLN , under this arrangement , the Post Office will be critical in provision of last mile delivery services to the country particularly in the development of E-commerce .
In light of the fact that we are keen on growing Africa , Europe and US commodity and digital market linkages , we have entered into partnerships with international consolidators who offer express , warehousing , trucking , logistics and customs clearance services . Our partnerships with e-commerce players such as KiliMall and Jumia have now enabled online shoppers to use our vast national network of over 600 post offices as collection points and order placement branches .
We are now in the process of acquiring a National Payment Gateway system that will be the pivot for all forms of public payments in Kenya . We have already fully developed Posta Pesa , a mobile-money innovation that will make Posta the go-to payment gateway due to its many points of sale solutions . This new innovation is set to be rolled out to the mass market on or before 30th June 2021 .
The public and private sectors are increasingly adopting e-commerce platforms ; Governments deliver services through them while electronic marketplaces aggregate consumer and producer demand . Once the National Addressing System is fully developed , the Government will be able to generate dynamic data on the country and its population leading to the growth of e-commerce and national development .
The Corporation is gradually transforming into a paperless and cashless modern Agency capable of handling any Logistical and Payment solutions considering its vast network countrywide . Posta Kenya is now seeking to be the preferred Government logistics and payment services provider of choice .
Dan Kagwe is the Chief Executive Officer and Postmaster General of Postal Corporation of Kenya . You can commune with him on this or related matters via email at : DKagwe @ posta . co . ke .