DAR ES SALAAM: CROSS-BORDER trade is emerging as a bright spot for postal and courier industry, with international items sent abroad rising by 40.8 per cent in the quarter ending June this year as businesses increasingly rely on delivery networks to support regional and global commerce. According to the Communications Sector Performance Report by the … The post Cross-border trade lifts postal business appeared first on Daily News .
DAR ES SALAAM: CROSS-BORDER trade is emerging as a bright spot for postal and courier industry, with international items sent abroad rising by 40.8 per cent in the quarter ending June this year as businesses increasingly rely on delivery networks to support regional and global commerce.
According to the Communications Sector Performance Report by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), the number of postal items sent abroad rose to 45,850 in the quarter ending June, from 32,565 in the quarter ending March, this year.
TCRA attributed the increase to growth in cross-border international trade and an improving business environment, highlighting the expanding role of postal and courier services in facilitating commercial transactions.
The growth in outbound international traffic was accompanied by an even stronger increase in items received from abroad.
Incoming postal items rose by 52.2 per cent to 67,800 during the quarter, from 44,555 in the previous quarter.
The trend points to increasing movement of goods, documents and parcels across borders, creating opportunities for postal and courier operators as e-commerce and international business expand.
Tanzania Posts Corporation (TPC) handled 52.6 per cent of items sent abroad, equivalent to 24,137 items, while other courier companies accounted for 47.4 per cent, or 21,713 items.
DHL dominated the private courier segment, handling 19,306 international postal items, equivalent to 88.9 per cent of the total handled by other courier operators.
On inbound traffic, other courier operators handled 53.6 per cent of items received, while TPC accounted for 46.4 per cent.
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DHL alone handled 28,242 items, representing 77.8 per cent of deliveries handled by other courier companies.
The international growth contrasts sharply with Tanzania’s domestic postal market, which continued to face pressure from digital communication.
Postal items sent domestically declined by 9.9 per cent to 492,335, from 546,644 in the preceding quarter.
TCRA attributed the decline to increasing use of digital communication channels, which has reduced reliance on traditional postal services for domestic communication.
Despite the domestic decline, parcels remained the largest category of postal items sent within the country, accounting for 43 per cent, followed by documents at 25.2 per cent and letters at 25 per cent.
However, service efficiency remains an important challenge as demand evolves. TCRA’s quality-of-service assessment found that only 59 per cent of operators met the requirement to deliver at least 90 per cent of items within one day in Inter-Town Zone A.
In Inter-Town Zones B and C, 86 per cent of operators met the requirement to deliver at least 90 per cent of items within two days.
TPC Director of Marketing and Sales Mr Frednand Kabyemela said the growth in international postal activity reflected progress in the communications sector and the expanding role of postal and courier services in supporting trade and the digital economy.
He said the latest statistics should guide the government, regulators, stakeholders and service providers in assessing sector performance, identifying areas requiring improvement and working together to deliver more efficient and higher-quality services.
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