The negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic (Covid19) which literally rattled Planet Earth, bringing even some of the mightiest multinational conglomerates into near dysfunction, has equally ravaged Zimbabwe’s postal and courier services with players in the sector bemoaning disruption of business.
While its roots can be tracked to as far as the Wuhan area of China, roundabout December 2019, the pandemic had its first Zimbabwe case reported on the 20th of March 2020.
And, ten days on, the country was on a Covid19 induced lockdown.
While it can be argued that the coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on virtually every economic sector, authorities in the sector have raised concern on the devastation Covid19 has had on the postal/courier services.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has negatively affected the postal and courier sector as evinced by the massive drop in volumes across all service categories,” said Dr Jenfran Muswere while speaking in Gokwe last Friday.
Dr Muswere made the remarks while gracing the annual World Post Day which coincided with the commissioning of the Gokwe Community Information Centre.
“International courier volumes, which are key in generating income, declined significantly. There were also challenges in the delivery of items owing to the lockdown measures in different destinations,” he said.
Minister Muswere said Covid-19 has induced a strain on the economy as it has disrupted the business operating environment due to a variety of societal restrictions put in place as part of the measures imposed to reduce the spread and risk of exposure to the deadly virus.
Speaking during the same occasion, Minister of State for Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Larry Mavima, said his province was already benefiting from the community information centres (CICs) that the Government has established in some districts as well as ICT learning equipment donated to local schools.
“Our people will no longer walk long distances to get ICT services. We promise that the services of this Community Information Centre will be utilized to the maximum. This year alone we have a number of schools that benefited laptops under the eLearning project from Potraz. This is indeed a gesture that we will forever cherish,” Mavima said.
state media
