By Correspondent
AT 05:00 AM on a Tuesday morning at Nakonde Border, long queues of vehicles are already forming on both sides of the border, waiting to cross either side.
Traders of all kinds of merchandise, transporters of different types of goods destined for East Africa and beyond, many more coming into Zambia and the rest of the Southern African region, all converge at this border for trade.
This is one of the busiest borders in our country, with revenue collections exceeding its 2022 monthly target of K320 million (according to Zambia Revenue Authority statistics). In April this year, around K420 million is said to have been to collected, thanks to improved border operations necessitated by projects such as the EU/COMESA Border Post Upgrade Trade Facilitation project.
What would ordinarily take days to clear now only takes hours; this is a border where people hardly go to sleep. At every point, there’s smooth facilitation of trade between the two countries whose border activities cover many more in East and Southern Africa.
Prior to the EU/COMESA Border Post Upgrade Trade Facilitation Project, the border, like many others in the country, had numerous challenges among which is lack of vital infrastructure.
The challenges that come with poor or lack of vital infrastructure is that the clearing process takes longer than it ought to. The more the clearing process delays, the less the money that goes into the National Treasury.
It is for this reason that COMESA and the European Union funded government, through the Ministry of Commerce and Trade to undertake the Border Post Upgrade Project.
This project has also been replicated in Chirundu and Mwami borders, with the aim of easing trade facilitation.
So far for Nakonde, all border agencies co-opted into the border upgrade project have reported some progress BUT a review shows that there’s still some work to be done to achieve more positive results.
For instance, Zambia Revenue Authority, the lead agency on the project, points to dilapidated infrastructure, absence of smart gates and lack of an inspection yard at the border as some of the major hurdles to improved trade facilitation.
With the current system and infrastructure, ZRA is able to clear, on average, 300 vehicles in transit from Tanzania and about 600 trucks with goods in transit, but these numbers could increase should the project continue.
At the moment, ZRA is renting a truck yard which is about 10 kilometers away from the border. And to make it worse, the facility isn’t conducive for the work being done. It is not paved; hence it gets dusty during the dry season and muddy when rains come.
Ministry of Health environmental health technologist Rose Nondo said the project has assisted the agencies to appreciate the importance of working together through joint inspections to lessen time of clearance.
On their part, the Ministry of Health requires rapid testing kits to test samples are tested at the border but at the moment, it only conducts visual inspections.
“We need a mini laboratory for testing foodstuffs and rapid testing kits (portable labs) for use in fields. We’re yet to start coordinating fully because ZRA and ZABS for instance should not be clearing trucks without our knowledge. We also need bigger infrastructure. Ministry of Health here has no proper office. But overall, this Border Upgrade Project has helped equip us with knowledge on standard operating procedure for border operations,” she shares.
“The project was an eye opener. Our minds were opened on what needs to be done when operating at the border.“
One key point to draw from the border visit is that Infrastructure at Nakonde doesn’t meet standards and neither satisfies expectations of stakeholders to operate as a one stop border post.
Its porous nature makes work more difficult as pathways are used to conduct several illegal activities, including smuggling.
The Cross Border Traders Association (CBTA) attests to the massive use of informal channels of trade, making it difficult for them to capture accurate data.
“We work with small scale cross border traders from within Zambia and outside. When they arrive at the border, they have to visit our desk and become members. Once they get cards from us, that’s when they can get permits for cross border trade. But most of them use informal routes,” says CBTA Trade Info Desk Officer Precious Nachona.
“They use different modes of transport such as motorbikes, bicycles, wheelbarrows, ox-carts. Bicycles and Motorbikes are not allowed to use formal borders for trade so they use informal routes. Unless they’re carrying goods on their heads, then they’ll be allowed to pass.“