Zambia changes the rules – and stretches delays

PRIVATE ENTERPRISE should put its weight behind an initiative to restore ailing infrastructure and facilities for Zambia-bound cargo to maximise the growth boom in the region. This is the view of Adrian Friend, managing director of Zambia specialists Celtic Freight. “Private enterprise should be allowed to fast-track the red tape involved in any sort of developments. Border delays are an industry-wide operational problem, but lately the efficiency at the border is getting worse.” The company’s trucks enter Zambia via Livingstone and Kazangula through Botswana, but, as Friend explains, Zambia has changed the rules. “A report order is no longer allowed to enable trucks to pass through Kazangula and be cleared and processed in Livingstone.” This has meant that clearing must now take place at the point of entry. This has pushed the average waiting or clearance time at the border to 3 to 4 days or worse. Zambia remains a growing economic force in the SADC region and Friend is optimistic for the year ahead. “We must use any problems as stepping stones as we look to grow the business and improve our services for our clients.”