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Sikhulekelani Moyo, Business Reporter
LOCAL producers should take advantage of Zimbabwe’s strategic location as a transit destination in Southern Africa to increase their export footprint into the region, ZimTrade has said.

With movement of cargo and human traffic linking the country and its neighbours, this presents a lucrative opportunity for businesses to realise timeous movement of goods and services to their potential clients, says the trade development and promotion agency.

human traffic

“Zimbabwe is not a landlocked but a land-linked country and this gives its businesses an advantage to supply competitively priced products without much hindrance in Southern Africa, riding on proximity to lucrative markets in the region,” said ZimTrade.

“For example, the road distance between Harare and Lusaka by road is around 500km and if competitors from Johannesburg, South Africa want to access the same market, they must meet the cost of additional 1 230km as the distance to Lusaka is around 1 730km.”

ZimTrade said it was inspired by President Mnangagwa’s increased focus on driving transport infrastructure development and rehabilitation such as roads, rail and air.

President Mnangagwa

The Government is seized with implementing the Emergency Roads Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP2) that is targeting to repair roads that were damaged by heavy rains received during the rainy season.

“Zimbabwe being land-linked, its location in Southern Africa makes it a key transit point in the regional transport system, thereby making it even more important for the country to invest in maintaining and upgrading a reliable transport network and to integrate its transport network with neighbouring countries,” said ZimTrade.

“The extent to which countries may tap into regional and other African markets is a function of how well it is connected to other countries.”

The organisation has also urged local companies to position themselves so that they tap into transport corridors that are currently in place to access all markets across the continent.

Zimbabwe is central to the North-South Corridor and the Second Republic is already implementing several developments in this corridor, said ZimTrade.

The country is also part of the Beira Corridor and traders have an option either to use the Trans-Kalahari Corridor or Trans-Caprivi Corridors as the trade corridor links West-Africa, as well as Europe, the Americas, and West Africa.

“As the country does not have direct access to the ocean, local companies must take full advantage of the Zimbabwe’s dry port facility at Walvis Bay in Namibia,” said ZimTrade.

The dry port, inaugurated by President Mnangagwa in 2019, improves the export competitiveness of Zimbabwean companies by reducing the export and import costs of cargo.

The national trade development and promotion organisation, has conducted market surveys in Ghana, Kenya, and United Kingdom and sentiments have been that since the markets are a bit far away there is need for companies to collaborate and share some costs to penetrate these markets.

— @SikhulekelaniM1