The port that never sleeps

Some of the stakeholders at the ports of entry include; the Department of Immigration, Insurance companies, Zimra, police (uniformed, detectives, PISI), ministries of Health, Environmental Management Authority, Forestry Commission, Transport, Veterinary Services and Agriculture among other security agencies.

The mushrooming of stakeholders from different Government departments at the ports of entries, especially at Beitbridge Border Post has brought about too much agony to businesses, travellers and visitors who have to comply with more than a dozen demands from all these agencies.

In short the status quo at our borders has given border workers too much power to abuse people and also promotes rent seeking activities. The resultant effect of all this is affecting the New Dispensation’s “Zimbabwe is open for business” mantra, considering that people have to pass through many hurdles to enter or leave the country.

As it stands, in most cases people are finding it difficult to raise issues of concern in a set up where there is no one in charge or overall responsible for border operations. This presents a stark contrast with South Africa where border operations are harmonised under a ports authority which falls under their Ministry of Home Affairs.

It is also believed that the NPA will attend to, among other issues, the expansion and upgrading of the border infrastructure and also put systems in place which would make Zimbabwe a best trade partner regionally and internationally. The availability of proper infrastructure at Beitbridge is key to the successful implementation of the One-Stop Border Initiative with South Africa.

At the moment the border post is in a sorry state and efforts to rehabilitate the place by Zimra since 2001 are yet to bear fruits. However, the new political dispensation under the stewardship of President Mnangagwa has adopted robust policies to stimulate economic growth through the “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” initiative.

As part of the initiative (opening up for business), Government has engaged ZimBorders to modernise Beitbridge into a commercial hub at a cost of $241 million. Recently, Beitbridge town was declared a Special Economic Zone to stir developments relating to the ease of doing business at the border. The Head of State and Government has since laid the foundation to pave way for civil works at the country’s and Sadc’s busiest inland port.

Some of the works under the modernisation programme include the construction of more (commercial) customs offices, paving, and expansion of sewer and water reticulation facilities, separation of traffic into buses, light vehicles, tourists, commercial vehicles, and construction of a commercial bridge to link with South Africa, the upgrading of Beitbridge Municipality’s key infrastructure among others.

As part of accelerating the One-Stop Border Post (OSBP), last year South Africa launched a logistics hub in Musina to ease the cost of doing business and promote regional and international trade among Sadc member States. The hub is a brainchild of Zimbabweans in diaspora and is a culmination of a partnership between Lion Share, Burbey Group,

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