Govt establishes new postal, courier group

The merger process of Botswana Postal Services Limited and Botswana Couriers and Logistics (Pty) Ltd is expected to complete this financial year, Botswana Guardian has learnt.In November last year government approved the merger of the two parastatals under the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Through the merger the companies will continue as one company being Botswana Post.

Botswana Post Group Secretary, Dzuke Baliki told BG Business that they aim to complete the process by the end of this year. “The process is still ongoing and we are working hard to fasttrack and complete by the end of this calendar year. Currently, we have not yet put up the new organizational structure.”

The merger will provide postal, courier, logistics and financial services to support the government’s agenda in providing efficient and cost effective services. He said they are working hard to avoid any job losses in this merger although there will be combined services from the two companies. “Our aim is to avoid job losses but it might happen,” said Baliki.

Botswana Post stated that whilst the process is underway, both entities will continue with their respective business and do not anticipate any interruptions in its operations in relation to customers, suppliers and partners. In its year ended March 2017, the organisation has reduced its loss position by 51.9 percent to P12.9 million compared to P27.4 million recorded last year.

In its 2017 annual report, Botswana Post Chief Executive Officer, Cornelius Ramatlhakwane said the parastatal has managed to expand its revenue base despite the fact that the mail business has taken a large hit during the period.  Mail revenues declined by 9.1 percent as many of the large institutional clients such as commercial banks and government agencies have migrated to electronic platforms. 

“We at Botswana Post see this setback as temporary. We now have access to leading edge innovations such as Reverse Hybrid Mail, which will enable us to pivot and revive these relationships with the important clients we served for many years. Through technology we are able to recover these income streams and even grow them,” he said.
To diversify revenue streams, Botswana Post leveraged on mobile technology and introduced the Botswana Post App which is available for download on both Android and iOS devises. Ramatlhakwane said their growth plans go beyond Botswana. They are currently in the process of generating revenue streams from within the region by completing money transfers with other postal operators.

The post is already transacting with Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. “We believe we can connect the entire region and will be in Malawi soon. Our intention is to do that and more, ultimately reaching out beyond the diaspora,” said Ramatlhakwane.