Improving the Border Agency Cooperation
Among the OIC Member States for Facilitating Trade
41
According to an AfDB expert, multiple OSBP-benefits have been reported by trade, logistics and
governmental agencies, including the following ones: improved clearance time to less than a
day, quick truck turnaround time increasing business, reduced cost of doing business, joint
operations such as inspections by INTERPOL, information sharing among border agencies,
drastic reduction of fraud, enhanced interaction of officers, and sharing of facilities.59
The implementation of the OSBP project at Chirundu has resulted in substantial time and cost
savings for traders and border agencies. The final cargo clearance into Zambia, which used to
average three days, was reduced to one day by 2014, despite a 65% increase in traffic volumes.
Since the fixed daily truck cost was estimated at 250-500 USD, the savings generated
amounted to 500-1,000 USD per truck. The commercial terminal that cleared 150 trucks a day
(8 hours) prior to the opening of the Chirundu OSBP, cleared 400 a day in 2013, achieving
significant efficiency gains. The resulting savings in time values of border delays at Chirundu
have been estimated to be as high as 600,000 USD a day. The average savings for the private
sector were estimated to be as high as 20 MUSD a month, by mid 2012, as a result of faster
transit times.60 According to an earlier report of 2010, the time taken by a truck to cross the
border reduced from 2–3 days to just 2 hours, and the fast-track pre-clearance process took
only 15 minutes. In addition, the reduced transaction costs taking into account fixed costs and
truck driver’s time, resulted in increased volume of goods traded across the border, triggering
an approximate 30% increase in revenues for the Government of Zambia.61 The monthly tax
revenue on the Zambia side of Chirundu increased by over 100%, from an average of 10 MUSD
a month in 2009 to 20.3 MUSD in 2012.
Lastly, the key bottlenecks and obstacles during the Chirundu OSBP set-up and
implementation include:
 Poor information and communication technology (ICT) connectivity outside the
Common Control Zone (CCZ),
 Lack of ICT equipment by other government agencies,
 Inadequate signage within the CCZ,
 Commercial facilities in the CCZ -security challenge on the Zambian side,
 Inappropriateness of infrastructure 62,
 Multiplicity of government agencies based at the border63,
 Lack of coordinates defining the common control zone,
 Lack of a performance evaluation mechanism,
 Higher performance expectations from stakeholders,
 Poor lighting in the CCY at the bridge and
 Frequent power outages.
2.3.3. Summary and discussions
This case study has focused on the set-up, implementation and current status of the leading
edge OSBP between Zambia and Zimbabwe in South-East Africa. While the Chirundu OSBP has
59 AfDB Expert interview, 2016
60 JICA, 2014; TradeMark Southern Africa
accessed 7 August 2016)
61 Kwaranda, 2010
62 Scanner on wrong side, no shed, no secure counter on Zambian side.
63 15 agencies in Zambia and nine in Zimbabwe