info@businessghana.com
A high-level ceremony in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, attended by the Vice-President, Daniel Kablan Duncan and the Prime Minister, Amadou Gon Coulibaly, officially announced the West African country as the host of next year's 27th Universal Postal Congress. In his speech welcoming the decision, Mr. Hussein, said it was the first time that the quadrennial Congress would be held in sub-Saharan Africa.
"Mr. Vice-President, I express my profound gratitude to the President, to your good self, and to the Government of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire for the tremendous support shown not only to the UPU but also to the African postal sector," said Mr. Hussein.
The UPU head also noted the Congress, which regularly attracts around 2,000 representatives of UPU's member countries, postal operators and the wider international postal sector, was coming to Africa at the right time. He said the Congress would be arriving at a transformational moment in the region's history, a time of great opportunity and a time of great potential growth.
"Across Africa, the fair winds of technology are delivering sweeping changes to how Posts work and to how commerce is conducted," he added. Mr. Hussein went on to say that the digital economy is enabling Posts to make ever-greater contributions to government purses and creating greater access to e-commerce, e-services, and other digital solutions.
To assist African Posts to reap the rewards of digitalization and ecommerce, the UPU is continuing to roll out two crucial projects—Ecom@Africa and Easy Export—to build connectivity across the e-commerce ecosystem. Côte d'Ivoire is a participant in the Ecom@Africa project alongside Tunisia, Morocco, Ethiopia, Kenya, Cameroon, and South Africa.
Easy-Export is a trade facilitation programme that links to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly SDG Goal 8.3 on job creation and Goal 17.11 focusing on doubling exports for developing countries. Mr. Hussein closed his speech by saying, "Together UPU and Côte d'Ivoire will make the 27th Universal Postal Congress a shining beacon for the advances and successes of the African postal community."
On the margins of the official ceremony, the Director General and the Deputy Director General took the opportunity to meet with the Vice-President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire and the Minister of Digital Economy and the Post Office, Claude Isaac Dé. The two UPU officials also met with representatives of the host committee, who were commended by Mr. Hussein for their efforts.
