•ZAMBIA and Botswana have cemented bilateral trade ties with the signing of a financing agreement for the construction of the long-awaited Kazungula Bridge.

By BRIAN HATYOKA –

FOR more than 10 years, several talks have been held to establish a permanent bridge at Kazungula Border across the Zambezi River between Zambia and Botswana.
This is because the Kazungula border route has become increasingly popular to transporters shipping freight between the major ports of South Africa, to and from Lusaka, the mining towns of Northern Zambia and the Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
However, the fact of the matter is that traffic flow between Zambia and Botswana is usually hampered by lack of a river structure across the Zambezi River resulting in long queues of trucks on either side of the river.
It is undeniable that the existing pontoons have been unable to support this huge economic potential as they only carry limited cargo and experience breakdowns at times.
The border facilities on both sides of Botswana and Zambia are inadequate as only 30 trucks can be ferried in each direction in a day.
Further, parking and inspection areas are overcrowded, resulting in long queues of trucks and delays in crossing.
The time-value of freight tied up at the border represents an unnecessary economic cost which impacts negatively on investment and economic development along the transport corridor.
Clearly, the state of affairs at Kazungula border has hindered economic integration of the two countries and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region at large as the existing infrastructure is outdated.
On a good note, however, the various challenges will soon be a thing of the past as the two governments have finally taken the first step to construct a Rail and Road Bridge as well as One-Stop Border facilities at Kazungula Border to facilitate efficient movement of goods and services.
On September 12, 2014, the Governments of Zambia and Botswana officially launched the long-awaited commencement of construction works for Kazungula Bridge across the Zambezi River.
The US$259.3 million Bridge, which would create about 2,000 jobs during the construction period, would be located at the confluence of Zambezi and Chobe Rivers about 65 kilometres upstream of the ‘mighty’ Victoria Falls.
Vice President Guy Scott and Botswana Vice President Ponatshego Kedikilwe officiated at the ground breaking ceremony on the Botswana side of the Kazungula border.
The ceremony took place barely a day after Zambia’s Transport, Works, Supply and Communication Minister Yamfwa Mukanga and Botswana’s Transport and Communications Minister Nonofo Molefhi handed over 40 houses to the relocated Lumbo Village valued at K12. 9 million.
The village was relocated to pave way for the construction of a road and bridge at Kazungula border.
A newly-constructed community school valued at K3.2 million as well as the construction of access roads and other amenities valued at K4.9 million were also handed over to Lumbo villagers.
Road Development Agency (RDA) senior manager for public relations Loyce Saili was the programme director for the two ceremonies in Zambia and Botswana.
Recently, the two countries signed a contract agreement with Daewoo Engineering and Construction which would construct the bridge.
The Bridge, whose construction works would start in few weeks time from now, would be completed by 2018.
It will be financed by the Governments of Zambia and Botswana with financial assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Speaking during the ground breaking ceremony, Dr Scott said it was good that the project was finally being implemented as it had been on the drawing board for more than 10 years.
Dr Scott appealed to the project team and the contractor, Daewoo Engineering and Construction including the supervising engineers, to ensure that the project was delivered within the planned timeframe and cost.
He said the project should also be implemented according to stipulated standards and quality that the two Governments have prescribed in the contract that was signed a week ago,” Dr Scott said.
Dr Scott said the project would create jobs, facilitate the movement of products within the region including agricultural inputs and mining equipment and increase opportunities for intra and regional trade activities.
He also said the project would reduce the transit time from 36 hours to two hours and reduce transportation costs and the cost of doing business in general and ultimately increase revenue for the two countries.
“The two peoples of Botswana and Zambia have waited for this project for this long and some imagined that this day would come in their life-time.
The two Governments are equally delighted that the long awaited project is finally taking off today,” Dr Scott said.
He thanked the AfDB and JICA for financing the project in varying amounts and also thanked the consulting engineers who worked tirelessly to review the Bridge design and for preparing tender documents.
“As Governments of Zambia and Botswana, we should be proud for remaining resolute and steadfast despite numerous challenges and setbacks that sometimes threatened to halt the process of constructing this long awaited Bridge.I am exceedingly delighted that our perseverance and focus has resulted in what we are witnessing today,” Dr Scott said.
He also saluted the users of the bridge and the people of the two countries for exercising patience over the years during the planning of the project.
The Vice-President appreciated the strong mutual ties that existed between Zambia and Botswana for many years.
“This is indeed good neighbourliness that we should always appreciate and invest in the generations to come,” he said.
Speaking at the same gathering, Dr Kedikilwe urged the ministries of Transport and Communications in the two countries to remain diligent in their work and guard against unnecessary cost escalations during construction.
Dr Kedikilwe also urged the two ministries to exercise professionalism to avoid delays and unnecessary litigation saying people’s expectations on the project were very high.
He said the ground-breaking ceremony was a landmark project to the two countries and the rest of the Southern African Development (SADC) region and the entire continent.
Dr Kedikilwe said delays for the project were history currently the two countries were determined to executive the project.
“This project demonstrates our resolve and determination to promote job creation as well as boost trade and regional integration,” he said.
He said it was envisaged that the bridge would be a hub for economic activities for countries in Southern Africa.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) deputy resident representative Atsushi Nakagawa congratulated the Governments of Zambia and Botswana for implementing the Kazungula Bridge project.
Mr Nakagawa said the project would improve the movement of goods and people in Southern Africa and beyond in the North South Corridor (NSC).
He said JICA had been and would remain a committed partner in working closely with the two African countries to achieve their goals of enhancing human resource development, infrastructure development and institutional strengthening.
“We wish to register our sincere appreciation to the efforts of both countries and JICA hopes to continue working with the two African friends,” he said.
Africa Development Band (AfDB) resident representative for Malawi Andrew Mwaba said the project was a major milestone in addressing trade bottlenecks between the two countries.
Dr Mwaba said his Bank, which was celebrating 50 years this year, was repositioning itself to respond to the needs and the transformation of the continent.
“This project will strengthen the already existing cooperation between the AfDB and the two countries.
As a bank, we will continue to assist countries in Africa on matters of bridging the infrastructure gap,” he said.
And Mr Molefhi said the Bridge would join Zambia and Botswana in facilitating the movement of goods and people of the SADC region.
Mr Molefhi said the bridge and the one-stop border post were expected to unlock bilateral trade by speeding up the processing and movement of goods and people as well as create new opportunities and prospects in the region.
“I am very positive that the residents of Kazungula and neighbouring villages will never ever experience problems due to ferry breakdowns as the bridge and border facilities are coming at the time when they are needed the most,” he said.
He said the Kazungula Bridge was one of the major projects to be undertaken in Zambia under the Patriotic front (PF) Government.
Mr Mukanga said the project was also expected to enhance the warm and cordial relations existing between the two countries.
“Our team will work tirelessly to do our level best to deliver the project according to the required standards and expectations of the two nations,” Mr Mukanga said.
There is no doubt that the Kazungula Bridge will unlock the economic potential for the SADC region and ultimately transform the lives of people in the region.