Africa-Press – Botswana. Being a vital trade link between Zambia, Botswana and the rest of upper Africa, all should be done to ensure that the iconic Kazungula Bridge is fully utilised.
This was stressed by Zambia President, Mr Hakainde Hichilema at the beginning of official talks between the leaders of the two countries in Kasane on Wednesday.
Mr Hichilema admitted to Zambia contributing the most to slow movement of traffic across the bridge, a challenge which he said should be addressed sooner rather than later if the bridge was to make a return on its investment.
He said Botswana and Zambia should thank their former presidents for mooting the idea of constructing a corridor bridge between the two countries.
“The bridge is a dramatic improvement from the conventional pontoon, and at full optimisation, will help circumvent trade and movement difficulties the two nations face,” he stated.
Mr Hichilema said that a lot still needed to be done to ensure that the bridge achieved its intended purpose, and that one way to manage that was to set common operational standards.
He implored the relevant ministries of the two countries to look into the issue, which he said would among others, improve movement of essentials such as animal feed, fertilizers and vaccines.
Mr Hichilema implored companies from both countries to consider cross-border investment rather than relying on overseas companies to promote foreign direct investment.
“We have to change the narrative that foreign investment is only when an overseas company comes to set base in our countries. So let us deepen joint investment between the two nations,” he said.
He thereby invited Botswana’s companies to set up in Zambia.
He also stressed the desire by Zambia to emulate Botswana on deriving maximum benefits from its minerals, especially diamonds.
Mr Hichilema said that Zambia was willing to join the talks between Botswana and Namibia on establishing a rail link between the two countries.
“We are very much willing to join these talks and be a party to them. We are also very keen for a joint establishment of any other infrastructural development that would work towards facilitating trade between us and the rest of Africa,” he said.
Mr Hichilema said that the two countries needed to do more on livestock disease control, especially the uncontrolled movement of cattle from Zambia into Botswana, saying it had a negative impact for both countries.
He said that this was exacerbated by the presence of organised cattle rustling.
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