Ghana Post: Strategising to revive dwindling fortunes

The payment of a GH¢2.4 million judgement debt in 2010 dealt a blow to Ghana Post (GP) and threatened to send the only national postal service onto a path of no recovery, but two years on, hope seems to be smiling on the fortunes of the company again.

Riding on the back of a thriving courier service through an Express Mail Service (EMS), sale of stamps, post letter box rentals, among others, the management of the GP says it is keeping hope alive despite the challenges posed by some aspects of information communication technology (ICT), particularly the new media platforms.

Ironically, GP can survive, only if it takes advantage of technology to enhance its delivery; a fact the General Manager of the company, Mr Abdulai Abdul-Rafiu, fully agrees with.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview, Mr Abdul-Rafiu said in spite of the dwindling fortunes of GP, management had re-strategised to move along the competitive terrain, taking advantage of ICT.

 
The judgement debt
The Accra High Court awarded damages against the GP as judgement debt in favour of Sky Consult and Management Services because it abruptly suspended a money transfer contract with the latter.

GP and Sky Consult agreed to run an Instant Money Transfer (IMT) service but Ghana Post unilaterally suspended the contract after three years, causing Sky Consult to sue for damages.

Added to its challenges is the problem of its teeming workforce, most of whom are aged 50 and above.

'Payment of the judgement debt did affect us but it is not the only reason why we have these challenges. Quite a number of the employees are over 50, which really affects productivity,' Mr Abdul-Rafiu said.

According to him, GP has about 2,000 workers across the country in 368 branches, but it is low productivity that is affecting the performance of the company.

Ironically, GP is unable to press for voluntary retirement because it does not have the funds to support such a lay-off, 'which of course would require a lot of money to undertake', Mr Abdul-Rafiu added.

 
Strategies for recovery
GP currently generates about GHc1.8 million a month, but virtually everything, according to Mr Abdul-Rafiu, is used to pay the staff and run its operations.

'Every month, our wage bill, medical expenses, transportation cost all round up to about the GHc1.8 million,' he stated.

Meanwhile, a report from the Public Relations Unit of the company indicated that revenue from bulk mailers continued to decline significantly from 2009.

According to the report, the volume of mails that Ghana Post handled for companies like Vodafone, Barclays Bank, SG-SSB, among others, had been declining since 2009, reaching very low levels this year; a development that has significantly affected the finances of GP.

The report pointed out that the trend was expected to continue and called for innovation and new ideas.

Accordingly, in 2012, the Public Relations Officer of GP, Mr Ekow Budu Paintsil, said an attempt was made to grow the company's revenue, particularly so, when total revenue fell in the previous year.

Newly acquired Ghana Post vehicles.He added that among other things, prices were reviewed upwards for EMS services and Post Letter Box (PLB) rates in 2012 and 2013 for commercial and private letter boxes respectively.

This followed the grant of a request that was made to the Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission (PCSRC).

'This has contributed immensely to revenue growth. In 2011, PLB contributed 12.7 per cent of total revenue. This increased to 15.2 per cent in 2012 and as at June, 2013, stood at 22.3 per cent'.

As part of the strategy to grow GP in the face of technology, Mr Budu Paintsil said the company had, in partnership with Mak-EduConsult,  introduced the counter automation service.

' A contract has been signed with Mak-EduConsult for the deployment of this solution and they are currently finalising a training programme for staff throughout the country.

 
New services
Mr Budu Paintsil said the company, in the last four years,  had introduced new services to up its revenue generation and with the objective of making the post office counter a one-stop shop for as many services as possible. So far, it has  implemented the underlisted services:

Ghana Post/MMT Parcel Service
AbusuaKyemfa(Insurance Package)
Airtel Mobile Money
Speedlink(Messenger Service)
Expansion of door-to-door Service
 
Products in pipeline
1. MTN Mobile Money Transfer
2. Hajj Parcel Service
3.  NIA 'Ghana Card' Distribution
4.  NHIS Card Distribution
5.  Collaboration with DVLA on Driving Licence Distribution/Processing

 
Way forward
Services in 20 major post offices have been computerised. This would be extended to 16 more post offices with support from the Indian Post.

Mr Budu Paintsil said the Ghana Post board had decided to start an exercise to make all non-performing assets of the company profitable. Currently, Ghana Post is in partnership with two companies (Waylead Ghana Ltd. and Devtraco Plus Ltd.) on a PPP arrangement to develop Ghana Post's Lashibi and Airport City landed properties.

The hopes to raise funding (Advance Payments) from these projects to support the restructuring of the company and  payment of accumulated retirement benefits and other creditors.

It is hoped that with the restructuring of the company and retirement of debts, a new Ghana Post will emerge as a company with manageable staff numbers and attractive remuneration package that is capable of paying its debts as and when they fall due.

 
By Naa Lamiley Bentil/Daily Graphic/Ghana
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