Kazungula Bridge: The Game Changer In Trade Facilitation.

   The $260 million project co-financed by Botswana, Zambia and the African Development Bank has already transformed the southern African trade artery. Commissioned on May 10, 2021 by the presidents of Zambia and Zambia, the 923-meter-long Kazungula Bridge has proved to be a game changer in facilitating trade among linked countries.

   With two border facilities on either side, the bridge is not only a win for Zambia and Botswana, it also contributes to integration in the southern Africa region, and illustrates development cooperation.
   The bridge and One-Stop Border Posts have since supported trade and transport along the North-South Corridor, and indeed the Trans-African Highway on the Cape to Cairo route. The bridge also provides impetus to the African Continental Free Trade Area. Until 2021, crossing the Zambezi River between Botswana and Zambia was a slow and congested affair. For trucks moving along a key transport corridor, stretching from Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo to Durban, South Africa, the river was an obstacle without an elegant solution. Vehicles would load onto a pontoon, two at a time, when the current wasn’t too strong and the rains not too heavy. It was a 10 to 15-minute journey that one could spend up to 15 days waiting for clearance.

   But today, trucks cross the Kazungula Bridge with ease and conveniently. Traffic across the Zambezi River has increased significantly since the bridge was commissioned, with increased trade volumes. The Kazungula Bridge is indeed a worthwhile investment for all the nations involved.