PROGRESS ON THE ONE STOP BORDER POST AT LEBOMBO/RESSANO GARCIA

Since its inception, MCLI, along with its partners and stakeholders, has been calling for the implementation of a 24 Hour One Stop Border Post at Lebombo/Ressano Garcia. The process towards realizing this goal on our corridor is moving, albeit slowly. Mozambique has already ratified the bilateral agreement for establishing the One Stop Border Post, and the agreement is currently in the process of ratification in the South African Parliament. As part of that process, the Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service, Mr Oupa Magashula, as a member of the Border Control Operational Coordinating Committee (BCOCC), briefed the Standing Committee on Finance in Cape Town yesterday, the 13th of June 2012. Click here for the full briefing document.

This briefing is encouraging in that it outlines the crucial importance of reduced border crossing times and the resultant reduction of the costs of doing business if border crossing delays are minimised. In addition, Commissioner Magashula states clearly that “delays at border posts not only increase the directs costs for all stakeholders involved, but stifle opportunities for growth and development”. This is a point that MCLI has made many times over the years and confirms the 2009 World Bank “Transport Costs In Africa’ report in which the cost of border crossing delays, not the lack of infrastructure, constitute the biggest costs to logistics on the continent and which make transport costs in Africa so much higher than much of the rest of the world. At a point in Africa’s history where there is a greater emphasis on transport corridors driving regional integration as a mechanism for enabling economic growth, and particularly with the push for a Continental Free Trade Area by 2017, the implementation of a One Stop Border Post at Lebombo/Ressano Garcia is more urgent than ever. Apart from which, cargo movement on our corridor continues to increase incrementally year on year.

A crucial point which MCLI would have liked to have seen included in the briefing is the need for this One Stop Border Post to operate on a 24 hour basis. The Port of Maputo operates 24/7 and the fact that the majority of cargo moving through the border post is destined for the port, makes a compelling case for 24 hour operation of the border post. The congestion which builds up at KM7 between midnight and 06h00 has a run-on effect at the Port which is currently expanding its truck entrance in order to cope with the increased volume of truck traffic. With the amendments to transit customs legislation in Mozambique underway, and the significant capacity on this corridor to carry transit cargo, the need for a 24 hour One Stop operation will be greater than ever.

We trust that the Standing Committee on Finance will process of ratification of the bilateral agreement will proceed at pace taking into account the significant volumes of cargo moving through this border post which are set to increase year on year.