Digital postal firm eyes East and Southern Africa




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Kenya’s startup Taz Technologies offering virtual post office boxes in partnership with the Postal Corporation of Kenya wants to expand the services into the region and South Africa.

Taz Technologies, the firm behind digitised mail service technology application MPost, said it is at an advanced stage to venture into Uganda, South Africa, Rwanda and Burundi.

MPost enables mobile phone user to transform their phones into a unique mobile postal box at an annual fee of Sh324 ($3).

The service is linked to partnerships with the national postal services of countries around the world and logistics firms where users can register themselves with MPost to send and receive mail and parcels.

The service also offers last mile delivery of postal items, mail and parcels originating from the post office delivered to the customer’s doorstep, through Tap-A-Delivery App.

“We have already closed an agreement with Uganda and we are currently in talks with the South African Post Office, with potential of having an agreement by the end of the year. We are also in the final stages of our deliberations with Rwanda and Burundi,” said Twahir Mohamed in a podcast.

Mohamed said Taz Technologies aims to scale and replicate its Kenyan achievement in other countries in Africa through leveraging on support through programmes such as One Trade by the International Trade Centre (ITC), a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation.

Aissatou Diallo, AfCFTA senior coordinator at ITC said the programme seeks to address non-tariff measures, simplify cross-border trade transactions and improve the business ecosystem at both, national and regional levels with a focus on the AfCFTA.

The initiative seeks to contributes to boost e-commerce opportunities and create a ripple effect for small business owners seeking to digitise their business operations by using technologies.

“Our goal for businesses like Taz Technologies is to equip them with skills and knowledge on the AfCFTA to effectively expand their business across the continent,” he said.