Songwe’s One Stop Border Post construction expected to be completed by December 2024

* Once completed, it will ease trade facilitation and cut down on clearance delays

* MRA plans to engage Directorate of Road Traffic & Safety Services on a possibility of having a mobile weighbridge

* In order to address congestion aided by construction works since imports and exports currently go through a single weighbridge

By George Bulombola, MANA

Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) Commissioner General, John Biziwick assures that construction of One Stop Border Post at Songwe in Karonga is expected to be completed by December 2024 and once complete it will ease trade facilitation and cut down on clearance delays.

Biziwick said this on Sunday when he visited Songwe Border Post to appreciate the challenges being faced there as the construction works has taken part of space of the existing structure and has temporarily affected the authority’s operations as cargo transporters have to stay longer before crossing borders.

He said the existing border post was on a narrow piece of land as it is between a mountain and Songwe River and that construction works have contributed to space limitations despite being a busy post — hence facing traffic congestion.

He said as a solution to the challenges, the project would be preparing land for parking of trucks to reduce congestion as some of the vehicles which are parked in undesirable places would be provided for elsewhere.

He added MRA plans to engage Directorate of Road Traffic & Safety Services on a possibility of having a mobile weighbridge in order to address congestion aided by construction works since imports and exports currently go through a single weighbridge.

“The Border Post, among others, handles about 40 to 50 second hand motor vehicles from Dubai or Japan imported into the country and besides that, it is receiving food aid through World Food Programme besides and about a third of fuel is imported through this post and it takes time to clear them all.

“If there was slow in traffic clearance, it means that the country would not correct revenue from imports and exports would not reach their destinations in good time, hence in the long run facing challenges in forex generation.”

Malawi has three other border stations in Mwanza, Dedza and Mchinji with Songwe as among the top three in terms of revenue generation because it handles imports and exports through Dar-es Salaam.

Commenting of progress of the project, resident engineer for GIBB International Consultants, Msafiri Seboro, who is in-charge, said the project started with land reclamation, construction of water retaining wall and foundations of some of the buildings.

“After everything is done, we intend to bring some steel structures in the next two weeks from Uganda so that we can have a super structure. We will construct roads that will directly connect Tanzania to the post.

“We have currently done 20% of the work but when the steel structures arrive, the proress will jump to about 90% because normally steel works are done quickly.”

Seboro added that rains in Karonga were a major challenge as they lost a lot of time but was quick to say that the contractor has included water retaining wall after conducting a flood modelling.

He further said design analysis was made so that the structure sustains earthquake shocks as Karonga is prone to such natural calamities.

One of the truck drivers heading to Mbeya, Tanzania, Clement Changa, attested that drivers face challenges such as vehicle congestion which, he said leads to delays in crossing to either sides of Malawi and Tanzania.

“For instance, I arrived on Friday and I was cleared on Saturday but I am yet to cross to Tanzania after three-day stay at the post, thereby slowing down our cargo collection and delivery business,” he said.

The government also constructed One-Stop Border in Mchinji being shared by Malawi and Zambia and as part of media orientation of Southern Africa Trade & Connectivity Project (SATCP) — funded by World Bank to stimulate trade on Nacala Corridor, MRA announced that time management in handling both passengers and cargo has improved tremendously.

MRA’s deputy station manager at the Post, Felix Mzilahowa told the media houses that the previous facility was too small to handle large volumes of passengers and cargo but with the establishment of the new station, it has improved on time management.

Mzilahowa said in the past a passenger was taking two hours to be cleared but now takes not more than an hour while cargo clearance was taking two days but now it takes two hours.

“Before this new structure was built we had many hustles — we did not have enough space or car parking area and even offices we were using were too small to accommodate passengers on daily basis.”

Mzilahowa added that the border post, which was commissioned by President Lazarus Chakwera and his Zambian counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema in December 2022, has seen an increase in revenue generation was ranging from K1.1 billion in a month but now they are collecting about K3 billion a month.

Installation of smart gates has also helped to provide information and data on goods and vehicles passing through the border — and most of it is provided to National Statistical Office (NSO).

He further said smuggling of goods from Zambia into Malawi has been reduced because the facility has the provision of a Police post and are assisting in patrolling the uncharted routes — and that the gates are helping to intercept smuggled vehicles from Zambia and South Africa.

The Mchinji One-Stop Border Post was constructed to improve the efficiency of border operations and contribute towards improving economies of both Zambia and Malawi — and the Songwe Post is set to assist economies of Malawi and Tanzania.—Editing by Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express