FMCT Says Economy Gained N290Bn from Courier Sub-Sector in 4 Years

Despite challenges facing the Nigerian courier (Postal) sub-sector, statistics released by the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology (FMCT) has shown the sector injected N290 billion into the economy in the last four years.

According to the document released by the Ministry at the 4th Industry ICT Stakeholders Forum, the courier sub-sector (turnover) to the economy from 2011 to 2014 has been on the increase from N40.3 billion (2011); N58.7 billion (2012); N87.7 billion (2013) to N103.3 billion (2014).

The sector is an amalgam of transport, logistics and distribution, and related entities that are involved in the linking of communities by movement of message, information, goods and services.

Speaking on the opportunities before players in the sector, Dr (Mrs) Omobola Johnson, minister of Communication Technology, said that, the sector has been growing steadily, and is likely to experience more rapid growth as commerce, particularly e-commerce.

She also advised players to leverage on the opportunities e-commerce presents, adding that NIPOST will soon hand over the regulatory role to an independent regulatory, as the Presidency works in tandem with the National Assembly for passage of a Bill on National Postal Reform.

“We are witnesses to the ‘Black Friday’ sells towards the end of last year where a particular e-commerce platform made N700 million within that weekend. That’s an opportunity for the courier operators to partner the e-commerce sub-sector. E-commerce is not just about sells; distribution is very critical and we have seen them with distribution buses, and motor-bikes. We expect those jobs to be delivered by the courier operators,” Johnson said.

On his part, Malam Mori-Baba, post master general of the Federation said that NIPOST has been working with operators in finding ways for the progress of the sub-sector.

Mori-baba also urged the operators to always be truthful during registrations to enable them keep track of their operations and rollout programmes for development in the sector.

“It is true the industry has some challenges, however, we are not happy that some operators will not give us the true picture of their capacity during registration. They would say they have the capacity for nation-wide delivery, but at the end they cannot deliver”.

But, Mr. Okey Ubah, general secretary of ANCO, said the industry lacks government interventions.

He wondered why the Postal Reform Bill has not seen light of the day almost nine (9) years after it was presented to the National Assembly.

According to him, the postal sector deserves equal attention like the telecoms hence they are housed under the umbrella of Ministry of Communication Technology.

However, revised gross domestic product (GDP) figures show that the contribution of the postal and courier services sector to GDP (at 0.03%) is low.

While the total number of registered courier companies as at November last year was 293 the asset worth, including revenue, capital items, and other working facilities, of the courier industry was estimated at about N300 billion.