Madrid and Cairo, 5 July - The Pan African Postal Union (PAPU) and Lleida.net (BME:LLN) (EPA:ALLLN) (OTCQX:LLEIF) have signed a framework agreement that will enable the 55 postal companies in Africa to provide their customers with Digital Postal Services through the technology of the Spanish company.

Lleida.net has signed the agreement through its subsidiary Lleidanet SaaS Middle East and Africa DMCC, with the support of eGate, the company's partner in North Africa.

The basis of these Digital Postal Services is Lleida.net's existing registered electronic communications technology.

Founded in 1980, the Pan-African Postal Union is an international organisation under the wing of the African Union, created  over 40 years ago to coordinate the 55 postal services across the continent and promote postal innovation.

"Signing an agreement with an international body such as the Pan-African Postal Union is a remarkable milestone and another example of the global acknowledgement of our services. The agreement opens the gate to market our technology in a continent where we have been working for many years," explained Sisco Sapena, CEO and founder of the company.

Lleida.net's domestic postal operator customers generate 70% of the total registered email traffic and all SaaS services.

And from now on, postal services in each African country can deliver registered digital communications that can be used as evidence in Courts of Justice and public administrations.

Africa has approximately 650 million mobile phones and 525 million internet users. The continent also has 500 million mobile bank accounts, about half of the world's mobile bank accounts.

Lleida.net, quoted in New York, Paris and Madrid, is Europe's leading company in the registered electronic signature, electronic notification and contracting and one of the most widely active in Africa.

It is the official provider of registered electronic communications for countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Colombia, Botswana, Malawi and South Africa.

It holds more than 205 patents granted worldwide for its registered electronic contracting and electronic notification methods.

Over 60 countries across five continents have acknowledged the company's inventions. Among them are South Africa, Nigeria, the United States, the European Union, Japan, China and Australia.

With around 1.4 billion potential customers for the new services, Africa is home to 650 million mobile phones, 525 million internet users and 500 million active mobile money accounts.

Every year, mobile digital financial transactions on the continent are worth USD 25 billion.