Story by Providence Maraneli
The Modernised Beitbridge Border Post has been hailed as a game-changer in Africa’s quest to achieve the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which aims to boost intra-African trade and turn the continent into a dominant player in the global economic arena.
With a control room fitted with an automated tracking system, which is colour-coded to check progress on all vehicles that are being processed in the border post, the port of entry has become an epitome of efficiency.
“The colour codes are basically telling the team the number of trucks that are moving, specific trucks, and the time that they have taken since processes were concluded. With this, we can intervene if there are trucks that are stuck in real time. We are currently driving towards making sure that by the end of the 2026 period, we are aiming to ensure that 90 percent of our trucks move under 3 hours, and this is an indicator bar which we then use to see where we need to intervene to ensure we are seamless,” Zimborders consortium General Manager, Mr Nqobile Ncube noted.
For a continent whose leaders are pushing for a refocus and reprioritisation, Africa’s agenda, from the struggle against apartheid and the attainment of political independence to becoming a dominant player in the global economic arena, there is consensus that this border has a key role to play in the pursuit of the African Union’s Agenda 2063
“As a Parliamentary Committee, we are happy with what we have seen here. We applaud the work that was done by the President. This border used to be chaotic, but it’s now a thing of the past. It has become a symbol of efficiency, and we believe this is critical for the growth of trade and, subsequently, our economy,” Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development Chairperson, Honourable Tawanda Karikoga said.
The US$300 million border post project is one of the Second Republic’s flagship projects, which speaks to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s vision of an upper-middle-income society by 2030.
