ZIMPOST celebrates 20th Anniversary
ZIMPOST celebrates 20th Anniversary with 130 years of Postal Services in Zimbabwe
The year 2020 marks ZIMPOST’S 20th Anniversary following the unbundling of Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (PTC) and subsequent formation of ZIMPOST and other successor companies. The year also marks 130 years of Postal Services in Zimbabwe since the establishment of the first Post Office in Rhodesia in 1890. The first Post Offices were opened in the then Southern Rhodesia in 1890 and in 1892 when the British South African Company (BSAC) organised first postal service and ran the service as a self-governing institution under the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication.
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication became a Federal Ministry in the Federation of Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1954.
At Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, the Zimbabwe Postal Service Amendment Act was passed with the Postal and Telecommunication Act being promulgated through Statutory Instrument 175 to create the Posts and Telecommunications Corporation of Zimbabwe ( PTC). In 1987 a legislation was promulgated for unbundling of PTC into four different companies and for the commercialisation of their activities. The commercialisation took place several years later in 2000 with the breaking up of PTC into, ZIMPOST, TelOne, NetOne and POSB.
ZIMPOST is licensed by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) in accordance with the provisions of The Postal and Telecommunications Act(Chapter 12:05) of 2000 as a Private Limited Company, wholly owned by the Government of Zimbabwe.
Upon creation, the company was mandated to be the Public Postal Operator in Zimbabwe and in line with this task, ZIMPOST has continuously broadened its products and services which include Mail, Retail, Financial, Agency, Courier, Freight, Logistics and Real Estate Services.
ZIMPOST has grown steadily over the years and today it boasts of 240 Postal Outlets Off- Counters, Sub Post Offices that are complimented by 115 Post Office Points, Agencies and Mobile Post Offices, in both rural and urban areas. ZIMPOST also established two wholly owned subsidiary companies, namely CourierConnect (Pvt) Ltd (2008), which operates in the Courier and Logistics sub-sector, and the Zimbabwe Posts Properties (Pvt) Ltd (PostProperties) established in year 2015 and it operates in the Real Estate sub-sector.
The Postal Sector in Zimbabwe, just like in many other countries the world over, is facing major challenges emanating from changing customer needs, technological advancements and increasing competition. It is against this worldwide trend that ZIMPOST has been diversifying its product portfolio in response to customers’ needs and adopting information technologies to keep abreast with changes in the market. The Traditional Post Office is being infused with technology to create a Digital Post Office through enhancing product features in line with customer expectations.