The Governments of Zambia, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have adopted a draft trilateral road transport agreement aimed at strengthening road transport, road safety and trade facilitation among the three countries.

This is in line with the Tripartite Free Trade Area agreement (TFTA), which is set to unlock further trade potential within Namibia and Africa as a whole. The TFTA is an expanded market comprising the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC).

A meeting between experts from the Tripartite Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Corridor (WBNLDC), member states of the DRC, Republic of Namibia and the Republic of Zambia was held in Walvis Bay last month.

Hosted by the Ministry of Works and Transport, in collaboration with the WBNLDC Secretariat of the Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG), the meeting deliberated on the draft Tripartite Road Transport Agreement, wherein the three countries agreed to sign the improved document, with more emphasis on road safety, in March 2016.

The WBNLD corridor stretches from the port of Walvis Bay in Namibia through Ndola in Zambia to Lubumbashi in the DRC. Ministers responsible for Transport from the three member states established the corridor on 4 March 2010 in Livingstone, Zambia, when the Tripartite Road Transport agreement of the WBNLDC was officially signed.

The Tripartite Road Transport agreement is intended to promote free trade in transport services, create seamless transfer of capital and the smoothen the movement of carried goods..

Transit fees on DRC roads are currently higher than those on Zambian and Namibian roads. Another area of concern is that Zambian and DRC transporters are not being issued commercial visas at Namibian borders, whereas Namibian commercial drivers are issued visas at Zambian and DRC borders.

While Zambia and Namibia have a bilateral road transport agreement, neither country has ever signed an agreement with the DRC to facilitate the smooth flow of cross-border road transport and to control the operations of the WBNLDC.

The African Development Bank (ADB) and the member states are contributing to the successful conclusion of the agreement.

The Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG) is working together with the member states, to develop the Tripartite Road Transport agreement in order to reduce the cost of doing business along the corridor.

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