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The Kazungula Bridge project is set to open up the transport corridor between Zambia and Botswana, a move which will see Zimbabwe lose out on transit revenue. The project is being carried out with partial financial assistance from the African Development Bank (AfDB). The primary objective of the project is to improve the infrastructure at Kazungula to reduce transit time between borders.The project will facilitate increased trade activity, and improve the integration of the Zambia and Botswana economies, as well as their global competitiveness.

The Kazungula Bridge project is a multi-national project in the North-South Corridor, and is part of an infrastructure improvement programme that covers the whole corridor.

The project includes a bridge linking Botswana and Zambia over the Zambezi River to replace the existing ferry, and a one-stop border facility at Kazungula.

This corridor is the busiest of all regional corridors in the SADC region, linking landlocked countries to the port of Durban, the regional hub for export and import.

The corridor will mostly benefit businesses engaged in the mining, agriculture and service sectors.

The project, totalling $229,62 million is co-financed by the Japanese Development Agency (JICA), in the form of loans to both Zambia and Botswana.

The Bank finances Zambia only.

The two governments each provide counterpart financing. – AfDB.