EMS Côte d'Ivoire - meeting the needs of today's digital economy

Over the last few years, La Poste de Côte d’Ivoire has worked to revitalize its EMS operations to meet the international e-commerce needs of its customers. It quickly recognized the shift in consumer behaviour to e-commerce and worked to develop its international express mail service.

Today, La Poste de Côte d'Ivoire is in a special position: Côte d'Ivoire is the host country of the 27th Universal Postal Congress, welcoming representatives from the UN specialized agency’s 192 member countries who are meeting to discuss the international postal sector. As host country, the success of this Congress will help strengthen La Poste de Côte d'Ivoire’s reputation on the world stage. At the conclusion, Côte d’Ivoire will be designated as Chair of the UPU Council of Administration with the opportunity to help formulate world postal strategy for the next cycle.

Part of the La Poste de Côte d'Ivoire’s vision is to provide new innovative postal services that meet the digital needs of its citizens. Its ‘Post Office of the Future’ is a special kind of agency, located in the centre of the country’s top and largest university where over 50,000 students and staff use the amenities and are customers for all postal products and services, including EMS.

Improving international connections through EMS

La Poste de Côte d'Ivoire was one of the top performing EMS operators in July 2021, including 234% growth in its EMS export volumes. Significant progress in  EMS has been achieved thanks to the measures put in place to improve the service across the whole country: including staff with special responsibility to monitor performance using the EMS customer care tool, i-Care, and the reporting system EMS SMART; using this data to target new export clients; and working to improve regular international transport links.

The goal for EMS is to meet client expectations in terms of processing and delivery times, and especially real-time tracking. Changes are being made to make the service more convenient for customers so they can pre-register their items at home, enabling them to track their items from registration until final delivery. For delivery, they plan to set up mini logistical hubs by zone to facilitate sorting and consolidation, as well as home delivery by delivery agents in each zone. This system will speed up delivery but also lead to economies of scale, as agents will no longer have to travel long distances.

There are  exceptional economic and strategic opportunities available to Côte d’Ivoire as host of the 27th Universal Postal Congress. The progress already made in developing its international EMS service has already shown how La Poste de Côte d'Ivoire is seizing all opportunities offered.