The African Development Bank (AFDB) has urged Botswana and Zambia to swiftly establish the Kazungula Bridge Authority (KBA) in response to its urgent recommendation.
The bank’s recommendation was outlined in a recent report, coinciding with official visits by the State Presidents of both countries. President Mokgweetsi Masisi conducted a working visit to Zambia on March 26, 2024, while his Zambian counterpart, President Hakainde Hichilema, visited Botswana on January 24 of this year.
ย โSignificant delays have been experienced in implementing the KBA for a variety of reasons, including Zambian elections in 2021 and Botswana restructuring of ministries in 2022,โ the report said.
โThe KBA should be implemented as a matter of urgency,โ AFDB said, adding that this will require setup in terms of personnel, facilities, systems, administrative and financial systems, and procedures.
AFDB indicates that establishing the much-awaited Authority โwill remove constraints experienced, with the KBA taking over the functions to manage, maintain and operate the bridge and ancillary facilities.โย
The Bank says although the post-project institutional arrangements were developed during the projectโs execution, these were not implemented by the time substantial completion was reached. โThe KBA, therefore, still needs to be set up in terms of personnel, facilities, systems, administrative and financial systems, and procedures,โ said the bank. It says this also creates constraints in the KBA taking over the functions to manage, maintain and operate the bridge and ancillary facilities.ย
โThis delay is affecting the operation of the facilities in the short term, as the Kazungula Bridge Project Office (KBPO) is attempting to undertake and manage functions such as maintenance but does not have access to the funding from bridge toll collections,โ said AFDB.ย
The report highlighted that the creation of KBA marks the region’s inaugural bridge authority, setting a significant precedent for forthcoming joint bridge projects’ development.
According to AFDB, an agreement was reached recently that the KBA will be physically located in Botswana at the KBPO site, where a 1ha terrain has been set aside.ย ย
โThe KBA top management and structure has not been agreed yet but the new Botswana negotiating team is being briefed and the target for implementation of the KBA has moved from Sep 22 to Dec 22,โ the report said.ย
With regard to KBA oversight, the Bank says a Council of Ministers shall act as a supervisory body for the Authority and consist of four members, two of whom shall be the Ministers responsible for finance, trade, transport and infrastructure in the Republic of Botswana, and two Ministers responsible for finance, trade, transport and infrastructure in the Republic of Zambia, respectively.
AFDB reveals that a Draft Agreement for the Establishment of the KBA, with the proposed by-laws, was compiled in July 2018.ย It says the Agreement governs the matters relating to the establishment and operations of a joint Botswana-Zambia entity that shall fulfil the functions of an operator of the Bridge at Kazungula across the Zambezi River.ย
โThe objectives of the KBA will be to exercise the rights of GRB and GRZ in the of ownership in the Bridge and to advise them on the most appropriate arrangements to ensure that the Bridge functions as an effective link between their respective transport systems,โ the AFDB said.ย
It revealed further that KBA is an authority of international character, a self-supporting institute that is lean and mean, focused on maintaining equality between the Parties’ rights and interests and outsourcing its tasks as much as possible for efficiency reasons. โFunctions such as Immigration, Customs (BURS or ZRA) and bridge toll collection are hosted and maintained by the KBA. The Immigration and OSBP must compensate the KBA for the maintenance costs,โ the AFDB said.ย
It says the costs associated with the management, maintenance and operations of the bridge will be covered from the money collected through tolls and any other revenue source of the Authority; the users of the OSBP facilities must pay maintenance fees to the KBA.
The Kazungula Bridge will be jointly owned by the Zambian and Botswana Governments. The Kazungula Bridge Authority (KBA) will be created to take over the bridge management, operations, and maintenance from the KBPO. Once established, the bank explained further that KBA will own and manage the operation and maintenance of the bridge on behalf of the two countries.
โThe border units such as Security, Immigration, Customs, etc. will functionally and administratively report to their respective departments and countries. KBA will only coordinate the operation of the One Stop Border Posts on both sides of the border between the two countries,โ AFDB said.ย
The Kazungula Bridge is a multi-national project on the North-South corridor of the Zambezi River. The bridge construction is expected to take four years, costing US $259 million (about P3.5 billion). The project was funded by loans from the African Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), as well as contributions from both the Governments of Zambia and Botswana.
