CA to spend Ksh.3.1B on improving postal, courier services in rural areas

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) seeks to spend Ksh.3.1 billion by 2027 on improving postal and courier services to boost e-commerce growth in rural areas.

CA’s 2023-2027 Universal Service Fund (USF) Strategy indicates that the authority plans to boost the usage of the existing postal and courier network by setting up ‘citizen service centres’ to serve as consolidation points for postal and courier services.

Traditional postal service use has been on the decline in recent years due to the rise of digital communication and competition from private courier services, which have tapped into the parcel delivery and e-commerce logistics market.

In the last quarter of 2024, for instance, Kenyans sent only 816,344 domestic letters, down from 13.1 million during a similar period a decade earlier. 

As such, the Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK), commonly known as Posta Kenya, has introduced products such as its digital address system dubbed MPost.

The system converts mobile numbers into virtual addresses for individuals and corporate entities to promote postal and e-commerce logistics.

Now, CA says it is banking on the improvement of integrated digital postal hubs to increase access to postal and courier services by reducing the distance to the nearest postal and courier outlet.

At the same time, the Ksh.40 billion USF Strategy indicates that CA plans to increase broadband coverage and usage in rural areas by 2027 to the tune of Ksh.29.05 billion.

The communications regulator further plans to spend Ksh.4.6 billion on “digital empowerment” for women, youths, elderly, persons with disabilities (PwDs), “and other vulnerable groups.”

This comprises the development of local content and apps targeting agriculture, health, and education sectors, the introduction of a coding curriculum for learners, and digital literacy programmes.

Meanwhile, CA plans to increase digital terrestrial television (DTT) and radio population coverage and usage at Ksh.865 million, mainly through subsidies for setting up TV signal transmitters and FM radio sites.

USF, funded by levies on licensees, appropriations from the government as well as grants and donations, finances national projects geared towards boosting the availability and accessibility of ICTs in rural, remote, and poor urban areas.