The Cameroonian Post towards modernization

On Friday, October 09, 2015, the World Post Day was celebrated under the theme: "innovation, inclusion and integration are the success factors for the future of the post office".

This was an opportunity for the Cameroon postal service (Campost) to open its doors on the day to the public to see its services and many innovations made both in the delivery of mail, money transfer and banking transactions.

In the service of national mail delivery, the company has established a tracking system allowing customers to monitor their correspondence. Thus, "if you deposit for example a mail in Douala to Kousseri, we can tell you at any moment where the mail is until the recipient receives it", says Jean Pierre Tsamo, the Campost regional sales manager in the Littoral.

He indicated that Campost remains the only company in the sector to be equipped with such a device in Cameroon. In money transfers, Mandat Express Local (MELO) is the flagship product that has been created to instantly send money through 250 points of sale which constitute the Campost network in Cameroon.

"This transfer is available in five minutes," boasted our interlocutor.

Finally, there is the possibility to perform banking operations throughout the network, through the service referred to as CPP backed on an interconnected optic fiber or the VSAT network.

Dysfunction

According to the leaders of the Cameroon Postal Service (Campost), the good quality of services helps to re-establish a relationship of trust between the company and its clients. «The Post has really been innovated, since it is Campost, there was a big change. Before, we had small worries and now, Campost really satisfies us. Mail arrives on time. As soon as you are called from abroad and informed that a parcel has been sent to you, the deadlines are respected», welcomes Thaddée Elobo, client.

Although it is always difficult to forget the malfunctioning that has been observed in the postal savings in 2003, until today, many investors who had made deposits in this company at this time are still waiting to be reimbursed.

"Governments have taken very strong measures, in such a way that in 2005, payment was available and deposits that were performed prior to 2005 shall be reimbursed gradually during the campaigns that the State organizes and today, half of our savings, three-quarters are served. Those who are not yet served, are those who said it was not worthwhile to line up before our counters," reassured Jean Pierre Tsamo, who added that from 2013, the deposits can be withdrawn in their bank.

Other clients like Ibrahim François, while recognizing the improvement of the quality of the services, he principally deplored the fact that the Cameroon Postal service offices are not open on weekends. "This is such that anyone who can only come and collect his parcel on weekends cannot take their mail, they can only come back during the week so, there is really need to review this," he noted.

World Post Day is celebrated every 09 October to mark the anniversary of the founding of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in the Swiss capital, Bern. It was established at the end of the UPU Congress in Tokyo in 1969.