TANZANIA and Zambia yesterday officially launched the US 7.8 million dollars (approximately 18bn/-) Tunduma-Nakonde one stop border post whose thrust is to boost and facilitate trade between the two countries as well as other member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The colourful event was witnessed by Tanzanian President John Magufuli and his Zambian counterpart Edgar Lungu as well as Cabinet minister and other officials at the busy border post between the two countries.

The modern Tunduma-Nakonde one stop boarder post becomes the first state of the art facility connecting the East African Community (EAC) and SADC to which Tanzania is a member state of both regional blocs while Zambia is a member of the latter.

Speaking during the occasion, Dr Magufuli said the facility is paramount in boosting trade between member states of SADC, noting further that the trade volume between Tanzania and Zambia surged from US 89 million dollars in2010 to 265bn/- last year.

During the period under review, exports from Tanzania to Zambia totaled 149.5bn/- while imports from the latter amounted to 116.3bn/-, he stated.

President Magufuli was nevertheless hopeful that there was still room for growth of intra-country trade and investments between Tanzania and Zambia as well as other member states of SADC.

Zambia is among the leading countries for importing and exporting its products through the Dar es Salaam Port, with reports from the Tanzania Port Authority (TPA) showing that the country accounts for about 37 per cent of cargo which is handled at the port.

According to President Magufuli, there are about 965 large and medium scale enterprises from Tanzania which have invested in Zambia while eight companies from that country have invested US 10.8 million jobs in Tanzania, creating about 312 jobs.

“The one stop boarder will thus facilitate trade and address challenges and delays which were hitherto impeding exporters and importers from the two brotherly countries which enjoy historical bilateral ties,” he explained.

Dr Magufuli hailed the Ministry of Finance and Planning for overseeing construction of the border post through the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA).

Dr Magufuli was, however, sad that little efforts had been taken to revamp the once thriving TAZARA railway which provides trade with affordable costs in transporting cargo.

“TAZAMA oil pipeline is performing well but there are some issues with TAZARA which need to be addressed to make the railway line operate profitably,” he stated.

The Zambian President was similarly impressed that the centre will boost trade between Tanzania and his land-locked country.

“There is a need for Tanzania and Zambia to continue the cooperation for betterment of the people in the two countries. “TAZARA (Tanzania Zambia Railway) and TAZAMA (Tanzania Zambia Oil Pipeline) are examples of perfect partnerships between our two countries,” he explained.

Mr Lungu said the post had reduced the waiting time at the multi-million making border post from four days to just one. Available statistics indicate that over 600 vehicles pass at the border on a daily basis.

Earlier, Tanzania’s Minister for Finance and Planning, Dr Philip Mpango, said apart from facilitating trade among member states of SADC, the Tunduma-Nakonde one stop boarder post will enable the government of Tanzania and Zambia boost revenue collections.

Tanzania and Zambia enjoy historic bilateral ties dating back to the reign of founding fathers of the two countries, namely Mwalimu Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and Dr Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia.

Source: Daily News

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