Somalia vows to revamp postal services, starts international mail service

[Deeq A.]

Somali government on Wednesday joined the international community in marking the World Post Day by vowing to revamp its postal service to start sending and receiving international mail services.

Abdi Ashur Hassan, Minister for Post, Telecom & Technology, said the postal operator is in its final stages of restarting the outbound mail before the end of this year, which is a major milestone in the postal service reconstruction.

“The ministry is working to make sure the postal service regains its lost glory and become the preferred logistics, e-government and payment services provider in Somalia,” Hassan said during the celebrations in Mogadishu.

The minister acknowledged that although the growing use of technology is facilitating communication, the Post Office remains relevant in this digital age as technology complements the postal services.

He said the horn of African nation was also celebrating 60 years of being a member of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the UN specialized body for postal services.

Somalia rejoined Universal Postal Union in April after more than two-decades-long sanctions were lifted after Mogadishu undertook to pay its debt over a period of 10 years starting from 2019. The move now allows UPU’s 192 member countries to resume sending mail to Somalia once the arrangements are finalized.

The country’s postal service fell into disuse when long-serving ruler Siad Barre’s regime collapsed in 1991.

View the full article