The Nigeria Postal Service is set to unveil a digital licensing regime, effective in the second quarter of 2025, to streamline logistics operations and enhance efficiency in the sector.

On Wednesday, the postmaster-general of NIPOST, Tola Odeyemi, said this during a stakeholders’ forum on accelerating e-commerce through digital and physical infrastructure integration in Lagos.

According to her, the digital licensing regime will also allow applicants to track and know the status of their licences and get digital certificates.

In his welcome address, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, said e-commerce is central to the global economy and Nigeria.

Mr Tijani noted that realising this potential required a comprehensive approach to addressing the logistical and infrastructural challenges that hinder the seamless movement of goods and services, particularly in underserved and rural areas.

To solve the challenge, the minister said there was a need to integrate NIPOST offices into all digital platforms to improve the logistics network across the country.

According to him, NIPOST, with over 1,000 post offices across the country, was under-utilised.

He noted that it was necessary to leverage the assets to support logistics and delivery while integrating them with digital platforms to offer a transformative opportunity to create a nationwide logistics network.

Speaking on the infrastructure challenge in the country, the general manager of Glovo Nigeria, Lamide Akinola, said the company had been leveraging technology in different areas, including route optimisation and addressing.

She noted that the challenge of payments was already being addressed with the growing adoption of e-payments and digital payments.

(NAN)