President Hakainde Hichilema and his Botswana counterpart, Duma Boko, have officially launched the Kazungula Bridge Authority, with a renewed call to strengthen the African Continental Free Trade Area and accelerate regional economic integration.<\/p>\n
President Hichilema says the operationalisation of the Authority marks a significant milestone in enhancing trade efficiency and unlocking economic potential for both Zambia and Botswana.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Kazungula Bridge must drive increased cargo volumes and promote return loads if we are to unlock real economic value for our two countries and the region,\u201d President Hichilema said.<\/p>\n
ZANIS reports that the Head of State further emphasised the need for increased joint ventures between Zambia and Botswana, including expediting the completion of the railway line linking the neighbouring countries, and promoting multi-country tourism products.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis infrastructure must not only connect our territories but also connect our economies through value addition, manufacturing and tourism development anchored on regional cooperation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Botswana President, Duma Boko, described the Kazungula Bridge as a symbol of Africa\u2019s resolve to redefine infrastructure development in line with modern economic aspirations.<\/p>\n
He says over the years African infrastructure was designed to export raw materials, but now the narrative has changed with African leaders working hard to enhance manufacturing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Kazungula Bridge represents a decisive shift from infrastructure designed for the evacuation of raw materials to infrastructure that supports the transportation of processed and value-added goods,\u201d President Boko said.<\/p>\n
He reaffirmed Botswana\u2019s commitment to deepening collaboration with Zambia in stimulating manufacturing growth and advancing the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are committed to working closely with Zambia to ensure that this Authority becomes a model of coordinated and sustainable management for enhanced trade along the North-South Corridor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Minister of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, Charles Milupi, said the establishment of the Kazungula Bridge Authority will strengthen coordinated infrastructure management and guarantee the long-term sustainability of the strategic asset for improved trade facilitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough this Authority, we are committing ourselves to a harmonised and sustainable management framework, that will enhance trade flows along both the north and south corridors and maximise the bridge\u2019s economic impact,\u201d Mr Milupi said.<\/p>\n
And, Botswana\u2019s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Noah Salakae, noted that the Authority underscores the two governments\u2019 shared resolve to ensure efficient operations, transparency and improved logistics performance.<\/p>\n
He said\u00a0Botswana remains dedicated to coordinated management systems that will boost trade and economic growth across the region.<\/p>\n
President Hichilema’s delegation\u00a0included Acting Minister of Foreign affairs and International Cooperation, who is also Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, Jack Mwiimbu,\u00a0Minister of Fisheries and Livestock, Peter Kapala, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Chipoka Mulenga, and Southern Province Minister, Credo Nanjuwa.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Hakainde Hichilema and his Botswana counterpart, Duma Boko, have officially launched the Kazungula Bridge Authority, with a renewed call to strengthen the African Continental Free Trade Area and accelerate regional economic integration. President Hichilema says the operationalisation of the Authority marks a significant milestone in enhancing trade efficiency and unlocking economic potential for both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":2803,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,36,17,15],"tags":[50,102,26,63,25],"class_list":["post-2799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-construction","category-latestnewsright","category-onlyzanis","tag-construction","tag-economicdevelopment","tag-ineverycornerofzambia","tag-presidenthakaindehichilema","tag-zanis","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2799"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2801,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2799\/revisions\/2801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}