From partnership framework to practical implementation, PAPU is strengthening its role as the continental coordinator of postal innovation and development. PAPU hosted a delegation from Logistic-Native e.V., SAPOA (Southern African Postal Operators Association) and sequa gGmbH at the PAPU Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, to advance the operationalization of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between PAPU and Logistic-Native in 2023.
Representing the PAPU Secretary General, who was away on official duty, PAPU Assistant Secretary General Mrs Jessica Hope Ssengooba welcomed the delegation and emphasized the need to move the partnership from "paper to action" through a clearly defined roadmap with roles, responsibilities, actions and timelines.
The visiting delegation comprised Mr Janras Serame Kotsi, Executive Director of SAPOA, Mr Toralf Schneider, Chief Executive Officer of net4x UG and Senior Representative of the Logistic-Native e.V. network; as well as representatives of Sequa gGmbH, a German development cooperation organization. Discussions focused on a German government-funded postal development initiative that is being implemented in collaboration with SAPOA for the Southern African subregion.
The programme aims to strengthen postal innovation, e-commerce readiness and management capacity among designated postal operators. A key outcome of the meeting was the recognition of PAPU’s central coordination role in ensuring that lessons learned from the SAPOA initiative can inform similar initiatives across Africa’s other postal subregions. Participants also discussed the proposal to establish the Project Management Office at PAPU Tower in Arusha.
SAPOA highlighted two flagship regional projects: the Regional Postal Hub and the Regional Learning Institute, which are expected to enter implementation soon and could contribute significantly to regional postal transformation. The initiative is envisaged as a six-year programme, split into two 3-year phases, and is expected to generate a scalable blueprint for postal development across Africa.
The meeting reaffirmed a shared commitment to building a stronger, more innovative and digitally enabled African postal sector through strategic partnerships, capacity building and regional cooperation.