Southern Africa bridge connection for Zambia and Botswana

Work is close to completion for the Kazungula Bridge, which will span the Zambezi River and connect Zambia and Botswana. However the new bridge link is important for Southern Africa as a whole as it will also facilitate improved traffic flow for Namibia and Zimbabwe, which have borders close at hand. The project for the 923m long bridge is costing around US$234 million and the link will carry both road and rail traffic. The new bridge forms part of the North South Corridor (NSC) in the SADC region. The NSC connection itself forms part of a series of infrastructure works, intended to help develop the region’s economy. In all the NSC will help develop trade and transport for eight countries in the SADC group. countries, and the Kazungula Bridge will provide a key link in the route running from South Africa’s port of Durban to Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, the DRC, and Mozambique, finally linking with Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. Because of the route’s importance, minimising customs delays has been crucial. And a new three-way border post at Kazunula in Zambia will help reduce crossing times between Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe and has been set up jointly by the countries.