President Samia to inaugurate Africa’s postal headquarters
TANZANIA, Arusha PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan will today inaugurate the Pan African Postal Union (PAPU) headquarters.
The massive 17-storey building is poised to dwarf other buildings at the country’s northern tourism circuit, ahead of the Ngorongoro Tourism Centre and the Eastern and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI).
Sitting on 22,421 square metres area of land at the city’s Phillips area, the project has seen the achievement of milestones like the completion of the basement and the super structure of the building from ground to the 17th floor, an undertaking which was completed on December 23, 2021.
Tanzania offered to host the seat of the Pan African Postal Union and offered land for building of the PAPU headquarters in Arusha.
As with any new organisation, PAPU commenced its activities from rented premises until the new building was erected.
The state-of-the-art facility is expected to take care of the immediate expanded human resources needs associated with the increased activities of the Union.
The new facility will also include ICT training facilities for capacity building for the postal sector in Africa.
Among many facilities, the new facility also comprises of a basement, ground floor, first floor to sixteenth floor and a 16th mezzanine floor with a semi accessed roof top.
The building is designed to accommodate commercial activities like banks, shops and post office on the ground floor.
PAPU will be accommodated on three floors while the Regional Office for Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), the Joint Venture Partner will be accommodated on one floor.
The building will also accommodate two commercial restaurants, one on the second floor and the other on the sixteenth floor.
It also houses a main conference auditorium, conference rooms and facilities of different sizes that are also part of the building.
The 14th Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU approved the formation of PAPU.
The establishment of PAPU was done at the Constitutive Plenipotentiary Conference held by Member States of the OAU on January 18, 1980 in Arusha.
The Resolution CM/Res.810 (XXXV) on the establishment of the Pan African Postal Union was adopted during the 35th Ordinary Session of the OAU Council of Ministers held from June 18 to June 28, 1980 in Freetown, Sierra Leone, recognising PAPU as the Specialised Agency of the OAU in charge of the postal sector, adopting its Constitutive Acts and calling on all Member States of the Organisation to ratify the PAPU Convention.
