By Kingsley Jassi:
Malawi is hosting a week-long meeting of technocrats from Zambia and Mozambique to discuss integrating customs systems for data sharing along the Nacala Corridor.
This is happening under the Southern Africa Trade Connectivity Project (SATCP) financed by the World Bank and is expected to clear hurdles experienced in clearing goods at the borders of the three countries.
Under the project, the three countries established a cluster committee to stir the process as Malawi and Zambia are already interlinked while Mozambique is yet to interface with its two neighbours.
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Leader of delegation from Mozambique, who is also the project’s focal person, Osvaldo Correia, said the delay to join the integration was due to delays in completing border infrastructure projects on their part, assuring that the projects would be commencing this year.
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“We have faced the delays because we are in different stages of infrastructure development. Malawi already completed Mwanza and Dedza border post projects; we haven’t even started,” Correia said.
The SATCP has three main interventions that include infrastructure projects, creating one-stop border posts, digitising customs procedures and upgrading systems—which saw the upgrade of the Automated System for Customs Data (Asycuda)—and system interconnectivity among the three countries.
Malawi Revenue Authority Commissioner for Customs Cornelius Kakwesa said the system interface between Malawi and Mozambique on the Nacala Corridor would complement the shift of goods from the Beira route to Nacala.
“Once we automate and interface the systems, the exporter or importer will be able to clear goods faster,” Kakwesa said.
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SATCP is being financed by the World Bank in all the three countries and, according to the project manager in Malawi Hastings Ngoma, it aims to digitise customs procedures, interconnect the three countries and improve border and transit efficiency.
“We are very optimistic that, in a few months from now, we should be launching the interface of systems between Mozambique-Malawi and Mozambique-Zambia,” Ngoma said.
With Malawi and Zambia already interconnected, there has been swiftness in clearing cargo through the borders, reducing time and cost, according to leader of the Zambia Delegation Mazuba Simalabbe.
