COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO DEVELOPING COOPERATION By Kainet Moyo Executive Director - SAPOA THE AFRICAN STRATEGY CONFERENCE BERN, SWITZERLAND ON 10 APRIL,

COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO DEVELOPING COOPERATION

ByKainet Moyo

Executive Director - SAPOA

 THE AFRICAN STRATEGY

CONFERENCEBERN, SWITZERLAND

ON 10 APRIL, 2015

• What is regional collaboration• Conditions for a good collaborative

strategy• African experience• European, Asian and Arabian

experience• Challenges of Regional collaboration• Lessons for Future Regional

Collaboration.

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

• Deliberate move by countries for cross jurisdictional or sectional boundaries to achieve a common objective

• It comes in different forms, sizes and strength

• It can be formal, informal, temporary or permanent depending on the driving force

• It is a silent admission by countries that they cannot survive on their own irrespective of size

• In the UPU context, members “Gang up” to reap the fruit of universality.

WHAT IS REGIONAL COLLABORATION

• All members must see the perceived benefits of collaboration

• Must be driven at the highest policy level• Must be seen as key to over coming

fragmentation and lack of the required critical mass.

• Facilitate access to expertise and finance that can not be harnessed locally

• There must be a mechanism of compelling members to work towards agreed milestones at a given time

• Big players must lead by making significant economic contributions

CONDITIONS FOR GOOD COLLABORATION

STRATEGY

AFRICAN EXPERIENCE

• Africa has witnessed many initiatives of regional collaboration

for example, ECOWAS, SADC, EAC, COMESA etc. and there

are success stories• Postal sector has been effective in promoting

continental identity but weak on business programmes• At sub regional level, there are pockets of success

stories but much remains to be done • The African post concept of a regional collaboration

is founded on the UPU definition of technical

cooperation which borders on “hand outs” in the form of MIPS , QSF, etc..

• The question to be addressed is, is this form of collaboration sustainable and effective?

• The regional collaboration is largely driven by political and economic agenda

• The groupings incorporate a more dynamic view of economic transformation and expansion / protection of markets

• There is a tight collaboration in (for own benefit) the use of UPU resources

• Collaboration with African countries “partners ” is driven by economic interests

• Regional projects are determined by the level of the Return on investment.

EUROPEAN/ASIA/ARABIC EXPERIENCE

• Social and economical inequalities• Political philosophy tend to retard or block regional

initiatives and sometimes resistance is strong enough to force off the idea

• Membership is spread in different groupings which have different development culture and agenda

• Language problem ( In Africa, English, French and Portuguese ) is a barrier to collaboration

• External influence ‘divide and rule’ principle has to be managed

• Lack of shared vision results in fast and slow movers• How do we manage challenges?

CHALLENGES FOR REGIONAL

COLLABORATIONS

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DRIVER WAS TRYING TO AVOID POTHOLES

• Policy makers must develop a long term vision to transform the sector and must managed the political process.• Regional collaboration requires a properly

balanced mix of internal and external financial resources ; 80: 20 respectively

• Postal Operators must lead the business propositions and must act as business people.

• Future collaboration with the UPU should be based on sound business principles and not from a begging position

• The leaders on the African post must understand their economic situation and then talk business language based on facts on the ground

LESSONS FOR FUTURE

COLLABORATION

If the wind is not in your direction adjust

your sails

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Thank you!