The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has commissioned the Kazungula Bridge and One Stop Border Post (OSBP).

The bridge and state-of-the-art facilities were officially commissioned by the President of Botswana (H.E. Eric Mokgweetsi Masisi) and the President of Zambia (H.E. Edgar Chagwa Lungu) at the quadriphonic meeting point of Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe across the Zambezi River. The bridge cost a total of USD 259.0 million which was funded by the governments of Botswana and Zambia with support from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The bridge and OSBP are expected to link the port of Durban in South Africa to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania through the North-South Corridor to facilitate trade and regional integration.

My fear is that the Durban port may see less business, but this may be offset by other benefits like lessening congestion at the Beit Bridge border.

It is heartening to learn that the engineering design of this massive project, was designed in such a way that it had to avoid encroachment in Zimbabwe, bcze Mugabe, was opposed to the idea.

In retrospect, our region lags behind in terms of economic integration and development.

Our regional ecosystems was left exposed by the sudden decline of of alephants and Boabab trees, that have been part of our ecosystems for the last 3000 years.

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