By Akanimo Sampson
Newly built Malawi-Zambia one-stop border post at Mchinji/Mwami border is expected to boost trade between the two countries.
The expectation is coming as the government of the Republic of Ghana through the Ministry of Finance has signed some $50 million deal with the Standard Chartered Bank of Ghana for the implementation of the second phase of the Transport Sector Improvement Project (TSIP).
This phase dubbed the Tamale’s road network project, concerns the asphalt overlay of 100 kilometers of feeder roads in the towns of Tamale, Walewale, Nalerigu, Gambaga, Damongo, and Yendi, all in the Northern Region of the West African country.
The funds in question are provided by the Exportkreditnämnden (EKN), a government agency tasked with promoting Swedish exports and the internationalisation of Swedish companies, and the Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK), a state-owned company that finances Swedish exporters, their subsidiaries, and foreign customers, and mobilised by the Standard Chartered Bank of Ghana.
The financing transaction according to the bank provides a significant contribution to the Ghanaian Government’s commitment to major investments in road transportation infrastructure, and alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 93 (SDG) concerning the industry, innovation, and infrastructure.
Developed by a Swedish Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) company known as QG Konstruktion AB, a subsidiary of the QGMI Group, the project will help the Ghanian government’s efforts to boost the socio-economic development of the West African country’s urban and rural communities by providing easier access to healthcare, education, employment, and other social services.
It will also help improve regional networks in the Northern Region and consequently increase the flow of business, agricultural trade, and market access particularly in Tamale Metropolitan Area, the capital city of the Northern Region of the West African country that is considered as the hub of trade with many other members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
However, Malawi High Commissioner to Zambia, Warren Gunda, says although the project long overdue, it will ease business transactions between the two neighbouring countries.
“I caution the institutions manning this one-stop border-post to serve people crossing into either country professionally”, he said during an inspection tour of the new facility in Mchinji.
Malawi Revenue Authority station manager Lucy Chikhawo said the facility will reduce inconveniences that traders from either side experience when clearing their goods.
“The one-stop border-post is unlike the current set-up where traders and travellers from Malawi and Zambia have to do repetitive paper work and engage with agencies such as Immigration from both countries separately. The new facility will lessen redundancy as it will accommodate agencies from both countries in one roof, lessening the time taken for travellers and goods to be cleared”, she added.
Mchinji Border Post Immigration Department public relations officer Madalitso Banda said the one-stop border-post will be user-friendly.
Roads and highway engineer Peter Kabalata, who is also the project’s acting team leader, said the facility, whose construction started in September 2018, will be operational soon after the current defects and liability period ends. It is expected to open in June this year.
The Malawi-Zambia one-stop border post project was funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
