Ralph Chikezie, a renowned business administrator and logistician, is the managing director and chief executive officer of Union Express Limited, a Subsidiary of Union Registrars Limited, and a member of Union Bank Group Plc, one of the biggest financial organizations in Africa. He was the former vice president and chief executive officer of Central Logistics and Support Services Limited, with about 16 years experience in the courier industry. Chikezie, a member of Institute of Directors of Nigeria and an alumnus of Philips Business School, Stellamboch University, South Africa, has attended several training in logistics and supply chain management both in the United Kingdom and in Nigeria. In this interview with nkechi david-iwuchukwu, he talked about new innovations in Union Express and other industry issues.
Union Express and other players in the industry
Union Express is a unique player in the industry, based on the fact that we are Union Bank Group and we have a unique product to sell. The courier company is an assembly of professionals from different courier companies. It commenced operations on October 29, 2007, and is duly licensed by the Nigerian Postal Service to operate Courier Services locally and internationally. It is now that Union Express started because we have done several research and discovered what consumers want. We have introduced tracking system, and other special products like; industrial purchase services and bike hire services. In fact what we are planning to leverage on is Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to ensure we better our environment, that is why I said we have a unique product to sell.
Banks Interest in Courier
Banks interest in courier is a venture, it is like the banks interest in every other business. Courier operators in Nigeria are now striving to meet the standard of global courier operators. It is like every other business the banks feel they can venture into. It is a welcome development, about two or three have entered and I hope others will follow suit. We the old players appreciate the interest which the banks are showing because it will make the business lucrative, responsible and more corporate.
Unique Selling Point
Our unique selling point is the ICT we have embarked on. For example, right now mails are delivered on time and Proof of Delivery (POD) is issued immediately to the customer. In industrial support services, we help industries to move their raw materials. Also we leverage on the 386 branches of Union Bank to provide services to remote places. Presently, we are making arrangements with the embassies to assist them to issue visa to Nigerians in remote places. We are still researching and we believe that more innovations will be brought into the courier industry through Union Express. Also the courier company is well represented in over 13 state capitals of the federation from where we deliver to over 1,000 cities and towns in the country.
We ensure that shipments are handled with operational excellence from the point of pick-up to the point of delivery. We also provide customers with tracking facilities to enable customers ascertain the position of their shipment at all times. However, the courier company specializes in the delivery of Capital Market Documents and General Courier Services, for example; Annual General Meeting Reports, Extra-Ordinary General Meeting Notices, Public Offer Parcels, Share Certificates, Dividend Warrants and Rights Circulars. We also offer special benefits to customers like; Free Pick-ups Service, Monthly Credit, Special Discount on Volume, Proof of Delivery, Insurance of shipment in transit, and Speedy Customs Clearance.
Professionalism in the Industry
Professionalism is the key in any industry and we believe it will be a very good tool to give the industry a corporate look. We are pleading with the government to bring the courier reform plan agenda on board. Right now there is no training school on logistics for operators in the courier industry but we have NCC organizing for operators in the ICT industry and Institute of Transport in Zaria, organizing for operators in the transport industry. Association of Nigeria Courier Operators( Anco) is planning to set up a training school, to train and also have a recruitment centre for various departments, from courier to clericals, customer service, marketers, and things like that. As a member of the association, I am hopeful that in the next one year, things will materialize and in our movement with government, the ministry of education and others, we will be able to become certified as soon as possible. Presently individually we are trying to train and re-train our staff in new developments in the courier industry. Also the Courier Regulatory Department (CRD) has a quarterly compulsory training for operators in the industry and it is a pre-requisite for renewing our license. However, some of us that can afford it travel abroad for advance training like that of last year was held in Germany and the one for this year will be held in Denmark. Very soon it will come to play once we have the Nigeria Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) offering training in logistics for operators in the courier industry.
Financing the Industry
In Nigeria to finance any industry is difficult because of the credit position of banks. One of the challenges is finance because courier is capital intensive, however once an industry gets a corporate look finance will be easy. For now finance is a big challenge because of the cost of buying trucks, bikes and human capital. We have to keep to a standard by delivering mails on time and this involves a lot of money but we will soon overcome it once a corporate outlook is given to the industry.
Postal Service Commission
The postal service commission is a welcome development. We have gotten the first reading and the first public hearing, for everybody in the industry including Nipost, they say it is a welcome development. We are pleading with the government to fast track their effort to bring the commission in place. To me courier and postal is everybody’s business, so we are all stakeholders. But for players, those who have taken it as their work should be considered to be among board members in the commission. The problem we have in delivering mails is the problem of numbering in some streets but when we have a commission there will be a department where complaints will be lodged. The Commission should look at having a data bank where information can be provided, so that whoever is delivering a letter can do it with ease.
Challenges Faced
The major challenge is finance, another is postal code and street addresses and training. Also a regulatory body that is independent is very important, all these are key factors that will make the courier industry a developed environment. Another challenge is that software developers are not looking into the industry but I believe that when the market is open, a lot of them will be interested in the industry because it is a big market. At a time we were looking at purchasing a software from Athens in Greece but thank God we found one in Nigeria. If all these things are in place, the environment will become a better playing field for players in the industry.