Zambezi congestion squeezes truckers' margins

Congestion at the crossing

between Botswana and

Zambia continues to impact

heavily on the movement of

freight in southern Africa.

With the building of a bridge

over the Zambezi River

currently under way, trucks

are still dependent on the

Kazungula ferry and

waiting time ranges

from hours to days

depending on

the volume of

traffic being

experienced.

“We are

still seeing

congestion

and the slow movement of

trucks across the river,” said

a source. “On my last visit a

month ago there were some 70

trucks waiting to cross. Delays

of anything from three to five

days can be experienced.”

He said during less busy times

trucks could cross within a day,

but there were also examples of

more than 400 trucks waiting

to cross.

“The impact of this is that

operators sometimes only

manage to turn trucks around

on this route once so you are

not really getting the rate.

The trucks are simply

not generating enough

revenue,” he said. “It is

understandable that

industry is eagerly

awaiting the new

bridge that is

currently under

construction.”

The multimillion

dollar

bridge

across

the Zambezi will speed up the

movement of cargo tremendously.

The 923-metre-long bridge will

see transit times reduced to just

two hours once completed.

Co-funded by the African

Development Bank, the Japan

International Cooperation

Agency (JICA), as well as the

governments of Zambia and

Botswana, the bridge is set for

completion in 2018.