By EMMANUEL ELEBEKE

A key topic of discussion of Post Masters at the meeting of the West African Postal Conference, WEPCO, last week in Abuja was the need for coordination of postal activities and operations in the sub-region.

The idea aims at finding lasting solution to myriads of challenges affecting the provision and qualitative services to West African people through a digitalised postal services.

Addressing the gathering, Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, said that WEPCO was an unequivocal statement by West African States that the sub-region was in step with global objectives of regional development.

She said that by repositioning the Post office for better performance postal outlets could become venues of social, financial and digital inclusion and governments worldwide would stand a better chance of achieving a more inclusive form of development.

Given the huge material and mineral resources in the sub-region, Johnson said West Africa has the capacity and population to power growth with its advancement in co-operation and movement of goods and services as well as the common eternal tariff policy.

According to her, all these objectives would not make much impact, if the long neglected postal sector is not repositioned for inclusive growth in the sub-region and stressed the need for all Ecowas countries to knit together for the common goal.

“Let us not forget that the post is part of the infrastructure that keeps citizens, people, families, businesses, customers and consumers together. We move messages, documents, parcels, produce and distribute medicines and finance across the sub-region.   It remains an universally accessible channel through which economic, social, financial and digital opportunities can be extended to the broadest range of the population, particularly in the rural areas. The success of the Post, fuels success in other sectors,” said the Minister.

She however, insisted that by repositioning the post for better performance and utilization as venues of social, financial and digital inclusion, government in West Africa stand a better chance of achieving inclusive form of development.

For her, in repositioning the post for a better performance, its mantra must change from business as usual, because the economy is being driven by the evolution of digital communications technology.

She listed non-tariff barriers; human capital development; as other areas WEPCO must explore as means of improving the quality of postal services in the sub-region.

She lamented that Africa had lagged behind in the use of internet and used the opportunity to invite her counterparts in all Ecowas states to the African Internet Governance Forum, which the Nigerian government is co-hosting with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in July this year.