Postal sector feels the heat

Zimbabwe’s postal and courier services sector has not been spared by Covid-19 as 2020 third quarter figures still trail behind the pre-pandemic period.

Apart from the impacts of the pandemic on global movement of goods, the sector has been hit by inflationary pressures resulting in rising operating costs.

According to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) Sector Performance Report for the third quarter to September 30, 2020, postal and courier services volumes plunged to 298 000 compared to 1 million recorded during the same quarter in the prior year.

However, the sector recorded a 28,1 percent growth in volumes in the quarter under review, an improvement from the steep decline recorded in the second of 2020.

Revenues for the sector grew 115 percent quarter-on-quarter on the back of improved service volumes.

“As with other sub-sectors, the postal and courier operators have not been spared by inflationary pressures characterised by rising operating costs. The growth in capital expenditure mainly emanated from FedEx who invested in delivery vehicles,” said Potraz in the third quarter report.

“Despite the growth recorded in the quarter under review, postal and courier volumes are still way below the quarterly average of over 1 million pre Covid-19. Although international courier volumes improved in the third quarter of 2020, postal and courier operators still face challenges in channelling items to and from several destinations because of Covid-19 policies in different countries,” said Potraz.

In the past two decades, postal services in particular have undergone radical changes — from a regulatory, operational and technological perspective — throughout the world.

According to the World Trade Organization (WTO) technological changes have confronted operators with new forms of competition from other communication services such as e-mails and social media platforms, but also presented new opportunities, for instance the use of technology in the just-in-time shipment of goods by express delivery companies. This is a rapidly growing area which is playing a key role in supply chain management and logistics.