The Kenya-Uganda border in Busia. Heavy trucks at the Busia crossing point. Photo/ANTHONY KAMAU
New efficient border posts being considered by the EAC, SADC and Comesa blocs will significantly reduce the cost of cross-border trade.
When they are in place, trucks hauling transit goods will enter partner states much faster.
The new One Stop Border Posts will reduce supply chain transaction costs, spur higher trade flows and boost the competitiveness of regional industries.
The chairman of the Comesa-EAC-SADC Tripartite Task Force of Chief Executive Officers, Juma Mwapachu, said last week that it currently takes two to three days for a haulage truck to cross the Chirundu border point on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border.
For an average 268 lorries a day, this translates into a traffic volume of over 96,840 vehicles a year.
Mr Mwapachu said that it costs each truck $140 a day in fixed costs and drivers’ time. For three days, the cost per truck is $420.
“This cost will be lowered by use of the Chirundu One Stop Border Posts, because each truck will take not more than two hours to cross and only 15 minutes for fast track pre-cleared traffic,” he said.
The launching of the border post was attended by Presidents Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Rupiah Banda of Zambia.
The estimated cost saved per annum will be $486 million, he said.
A recent World Bank study shows that only 25 per cent of the supply chain costs are attributable to poor physical infrastructure.
About 75 per cent is due to “soft infrastructure deficits”.
The constraints are principally people-driven and related to cumbersome Customs procedures, bureaucratic behaviour and corruption.
The Chirundu One Stop Border Post is in the North-South Corridor Development Project, within the framework of the tripartite arrangements.
It is part of a range of efforts to address the region’s transport and logistics deficits prior to the establishment of the Grand Free Trade Area.
In April this year in Lusaka, the Tripartite Leadership — supported by several development partners — attracted $1.2 billion in funding pledges.
An additional $1.5 billion is being raised for the project.
One Stop Border Posts will also have social benefits, especially in stemming the spread of HIV/Aids.
Research shows that there is close association between high incidents of HIV/Aids transmission and delays at border crossings.
