Botswana, Zambia open Kazungula Bridge
THE Kazungula Bridge over the Zambezi River linking Botswana and Zambia is expected to improve trade and create jobs between the two countries.
Opening the bridge on Monday, Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi said the completion of the bridge had raised expectations.
“It goes without saying that goods from Lesotho, eswatini, South Africa and Namibia, as well as from Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Angola, Kenya and all countries in the north of us will use the bridge in the true spirit of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement,” he said.
“Botswana has always been of the view that the Kazungula Bridge will open avenues for improved trade, job creation and economic diversification in our countries. By and large, it will significantly accelerate SADC’S (the Southern African Development Community’s) regional integration agenda which we are vigorously pursuing. I believe that with the support of our regional body and its member states, Kazungula Bridge will serve the purpose for which it was constructed.”
Masisi said the curved bridge, stretching 900m over the Zambezi River, was the fruition of close bilateral relations between Botswana and Zambia.
“Botswana attaches great importance to the friendly relations that exist between our countries. My country regards Zambia as a key strategic partner in development.
“This bridge is, therefore, testimony to the ever-growing scope and scale of co-operation which our two countries have enjoyed since the colonial era.”
The Kazungula road and rail bridge has one-stop border post facilities on both sides, which will enhance the operational efficiency at entry points, replicated on both sides of the border.
Masisi said the bridge was conceived as a critical link in the African
North-south Corridor under the AU’S New Partnership for Africa’s Development programme.
According to local media reports, Zambian President Edgar Lungu said traffic through the Kazungula border post would greatly improve, thanks to reduced border transit time and improved trade facilitation measures and border management operations.
Lungu has called for the establishment of the Kazungula Bridge Authority that would manage and maintain the facility on behalf of the two governments, the news website Lusaka Times reported.
The countries announced the construction of the bridge in August 2007 to replace the ferry, and construction began in 2014.
The bridge is curved to avoid the nearby borders of Zimbabwe and Namibia, but Masisi said Zimbabwe had agreed in principle to be part of the project.
“I am happy to note that the Republic of Zimbabwe has agreed in principle to be a partner in this project and our officials are working on the legal framework for such an arrangement and will continue to work increasingly faster for Zimbabwe to be part of this bridge, and eventually enrol Namibia.”
In a statement, SADC said the bridge was expected to link the port of Durban to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Tanzania through the North-south Corridor, to facilitate seamless and efficient movement of goods and people, reduce the cost of doing business, contribute to industrialisation and enhance trade and SADC regional integration.
“The traditional two-stop border posts have been upgraded to a one-stop border, whereby border transactions have been re-engineered, remodelled and recalibrated, to improve regional connectivity and efficiency of transit traffic, and in doing so, to enhance competitiveness, reduce transaction costs, increase SADC intra-trade and contribute to SADC regional integration and development,” said executive secretary Stergomena Lawrence Tax.
“I am confident that SADC member states will take forward this practice of working together for a common goal, and expedite the construction of the other regional gateways, including Beitbridge and Kasumbalesa.
“Addressing the remaining hot spots will unleash the great potential that the North-south Corridor has as a catalyst for spatial development and for facilitating industrialisation and regional trade and commerce,” said Tax. | African News Agency (ANA)