The main problem with border posts in southern Africa, particularly around SA, was that they were designed to control the movement of people, rather than as a means to facilitate trade, Department of Transport deputy director-general Mawethu Vilana said last week.
SA has 52 border posts, although this number is expected to be cut. Speaking at the African Renaissance Conference in Durban last week, Mr Vilana said by the time a trucker had passed from SA to Zimbabwe, he would have completed 19 administration and other bureaucratic checks. Typically, there are weighbridges on either side of the border, but axle-load standards differ between countries. Drivers can rely on a computerised customs clearing system on the South African side of the border, but the system usually revert s to manual on the other side. The “one-stop border post” model, where clearance is done at one facility, is one border post design concept being considered after a pilot project at Chirundu — between Zimbabwe and Zambia — showed good results, cutting waiting time by 30%. Another model is the “common one country” facility, a single building in one of the two adjacent countries. A third concept, the “juxtaposed facility”, comprises shared facilities in the country of entry in each direction. Mr Vilana said political and revenue-sharing considerations had to be considered when setting up partnerships at border posts.
The North-South Transport Corridor through sub-Saharan Africa involves nine countries, and a revenue-sharing model addressing issues such as infrastructure development and maintenance still needs to be agreed upon.
Zambia Road Transport and Safety Agency CEO Frederick Mwalusaka said only 9403km of the country’s 67671km of roads are paved, which slows and adds to the cost of trade in Zambia. Some of the problems at Zambia’s border posts include too many border agencies being involved, poor information technology and infrastructure facilities, inadequate staff and the lack of simplified procedures. However, Zambia was moving to address some of these issues, as evidenced by the success at Chirundu. Source: http://www.businessday.co.za
