30 Jul 2024

Completion of the One Stop Border Post (OSBP) facilities is not only a win for Botswana and Zambia but a win for the entire region.

Minister of Transport and Public Works, Mr Eric Molale, said this at the Joint Ministerial Committee Meeting for the Kazungula Bridge Project at the Martins Drift Border recently.

Mr Molale said the facilities contributed to integration in the Southern African region and illustrated development cooperation.

He said the OSBP facilities supported trade and transport along the North-South corridor and indeed the Trans-African Highway on the Cape to Cairo route.

“The bridge provides impetus to the recently launched African Continental Free Trade Area as it  facilitates movement of goods and people across the Zambezi River,” he said.

Mr Molale emphasised the importance of these facilities to the economies of the two countries and the region at large.

He said the developed facilities facilitated trade activities and global competitiveness of Zambia and Botswana, improved the regional connectivity of the North-South Corridor and contributed to improved regional integration of the SADC region.  

“Our people are now travelling safely across the Zambezi River, they no longer rely on pantoons/boats, which are not safe,” he said.

Mr Molale said the Martin’s Drift Border was just a replica of what they used to experience at Kazungula, noting that it was their desire to improve the border to facilitate seamless movement of traffic along the North-South Corridor.

“We need proper connectivity especially us landlocked countries so that our goods may reach coastal states without any delay, which may result in high transportation costs’’, he said.

Mr Molale said the Martins Drift Border was established in 1938 and had been pivotal in facilitating trade among SADC countries and promoting regional integration.

He said there was no doubt of congestion at the Martins Drift border post, noting that about 60 pe cent of the trucks that cross at the border post came from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and another 30 per cent from South Africa while only 10 per  cent was from Botswana.

He said despite the small percentage of trucks from Botswana, government had shown commitment to regional integration which he noted was considered by the number of activities and actions.

“That is why were have convened, so that we can do a situational analysis; what is happening and what ought to be done so that we make the Kazungula Bridge more efficient, more functional and more beneficial for all the countries that use it,” he said.

Mr Molale said even though South Africa’s Minister of Transport Ms Barbara Creecy, was not able to make it to the meeting, they engaged with her on the developments that needed to be made to facilitate seamless movement across the borders for efficient trade.

The Zambia Minister of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, Mr Charles Milupi said his country  had made steady progress in establishing the Kazungula Bridge Authority.

He said the Bill had been approved by Cabinet and was optimistic that it would be approved during the current session of Parliament.

Mr Milupi said following a site visit to Martins Drift Border, they had been able to appreciate the whole transport corridor south of the Kazungula Bridge and the challenges that their transporters go through at the border.

“There is no doubt that we need to continuously invest in border infrastructure so that we can improve the efficiency and smooth flow of traffic, goods and services,” he noted.

He said it was evident that  there was need to turn the border into one stop border, adding that increasing the capacity of the bridge to at least two lanes would not only help Botswana but will also help them. Ends