Mr Osei Kuffour made this request when he and the Director of Posts at the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, Mr Sulleman Lugey, paid a courtesy call on the Director General of the UPU, Mr Masahiko Metoki, on 25^th October, 2022, at the Council of Administration Session of the UPU in Berne, Switzerland. At the meeting were Mr Mutua, Director of Development and Cooperation and Mr. Akio Miyaji, Senior Special Adviser to the Director General of the UPU.

Mr Bice Osei Kuffour congratulated the Director General on his election to the high position of the UPU which is the Specialised Agency of the United Nations in postal matters.  He used the opportunity to request for support from the UPU to enable Ghana Post roll out more digital services and establish a robust domestic and cross border e-Commerce service in Ghana.

In his remarks, Mr Metoki welcomed Mr Osei Kuffour to the Postal fraternity and congratulated him on his appointment to lead an important state organisation which has a huge global influence. He also recalled with much appreciation the huge support that the Hon. Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful and the entire Government of Ghana offered Japan for his candidacy during the Abidjan Congress where he was elected.

The Director General also congratulated Ghana Post for winning several UPU awards over the years and encouraged the Managing Director and the entire staff of Ghana Post to sustain this feat.

In response to the Managing Director’s request for support from the UPU in respect of capacity building for staff of Ghana Post, Mr Metoki assured him that Ghana Post would surely benefit from an e-commerce project for Africa which would be launched in Abuja, Nigeria in November 2022. This project, he noted, seeks to strengthen the postal regulations in the e-commerce space, sensitise governments on the need to empower the designated Postal Operators to enable them offer several services in the e-commerce value chain and enhance the digital inclusion initiatives of the Post in Africa.

Mr Metoki again assured Mr Osei Kuffour that his request for Ghana Post to benchmark best practices with some sister postal administrations would receive the needed attention.

In a similar development, the Managing Director of the Ghana Post Company seized the opportunity to have further engagement with the delegation from the United States of America. The discussions focused on the security of mail exchanges between the two countries which had suffered some challenges of late.  

Mr Osei Kuffour also engaged the Secretary General of the Pan African Postal Union (PAPU), Chief Shifondu Moyo as well as several private mail operators participating in the 5-day Conference.

Ghana is an elected member of the Council of Administration of the UPU which is responsible for ensuring the smooth operations of the Union in between Congresses.

Written by Sulleman Lugey, Director of Posts, Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation.

Mr Bice Osei Kuffour, Mr Sulleman Lugey meet Mr Masahiko Metoki and his team.