Egypt Post prepares for a competitive market
About Egypt and Egypt Post
The Arab Republic of Egypt is a vast desert plateau interrupted by the Nile River and Delta, where over 90% of the population lives. These regions are amongst the world’s most densely populated. As a result, the total population of Egypt is some 78 million, the largest in the Arab world.
Egypt Post has been providing this population, its households, businesses and governmental entities, with the ability to communicate and conduct business with each other and the world for over 140 years. It was established in 1865 with financial services being introduced in 1901.
The main structural elements of Egypt Post’s network are its outlets, postmen and mailboxes. Egypt Post provides services in 218 cities and 4500 villages, and has 15 million savings account holders, a significant proportion of the population. The organisation has 50,000 employees, 3,600 offices, 120 centres and 1,300 vehicles. Furthermore, it manages business relations with 1,200 certified postal agents. Its assets are worth 46bn Egyptian Pounds.
Egypt Post is a government owned and run entity that operates as an independent economic organisation affiliated to the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. However, it has more autonomy than most public services through the laws 16/1970 and 19/1982, which give it the ability to form joint stock companies and to deal directly with leading institutions.
A Trusted Organisation
Egypt Post has always maintained financial stability through its financial services and thus gained customer trust over the years. Moreover, it is well known for its low threshold access and no start-up costs, which allow all citizens regardless of income levels or social backgrounds to feel comfortable in seeking its services. This accessibility, together with the fact that its offices are spread all over the country, even in rural areas, allows it to reach people and places where even telephone lines are not yet available.
Personal relationships make the postman a trusted person who is often the main connection with the outside world.
All in all, Egypt Post has numerous strengths which can be further leveraged to position it as a very efficient socio-economic service organisation.
Re-Structuring and Modernising
The extensive distribution network is at the heart of a re-structuring programme that began in 2002.
The start point was a programme of image improvements and simple changes in operations in order to refresh the organisation’s staff, improve morale, and improve public perception.
To ensure a fully fledged and sustainable restructuring, Egypt Post undertook a comprehensive analysis of the business market, and examined carefully all its strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and challenges. It explored best practice and experience worldwide, and relevant case studies. It involved the UPU and the World Bank, specialised consultancy firms, and other international organisations.
Following the assessment of all available data and information, a model was created specifying that main foundation stones of the transformation process. These were
- restructuring the organisation
- human resources development
- modernising all processes and procedures
- utilising the latest in ICT
- becoming more customer centric and business oriented
In order to fulfil its social and economic role, and be capable of dealing with aggressive competition in a global liberal market and the information age, Egypt Post carried out a comprehensive business development reform programme covering two main areas, Services and Investment.
Examples include the introduction of e based services such as the electronic postmark EPM and CMS. To capitalise on its huge customer base and the capillarity of its network, Egypt Post has also invested in the third largest mobile phone operator, Etisalat Misr.
Opening Up the Market
Out of the conviction that Egypt Post has an important role to play in the country’s economic development, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) is supporting this ambitious transformation programme aimed at improving the quality of services provided to the public, as well as generating more revenues.
The government is committed to liberalising the postal market sector by 2009, allowing private sector companies to compete with Egypt Post to ensure the provision of the highest quality service to all.
In the meantime, Egypt Post issues courier licences to private sector companies that want to enter the Egyptian market: there are currently eight companies providing such services.
MCIT is in the process of establishing the Postal Sector Policy Unit to act as the regulator of the postal sector, responsible for defining postal market standards and enforcing their implementation. The objective is to ensure that market liberalisation of the postal sector is socially advantageous and non-exploitive.
Egypt Post operates in a free economy where the market is driven by intensive deregulation efforts in the telecommunications and legal sectors, aimed at the creation of an enabling environment for the diffusion of ICT applications in all aspects. It is an environment that encourages private sector development, pursues financial reform, and promotes foreign direct investment; as well as supporting mutual co-operation with international entities and public private partnerships.
