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Leonard Ncube, [email protected]

IT is shortly after 6am and the rising sun’s rays pierce through rainbow coloured showers from the Mighty Victoria Falls, locally known as Mosi-oa-Tunya (the smoke that thunders).

The tarmac on Livingstone Way that links the two border posts on the Zimbabwean and the Zambian side of the Zambezi River, known as Kasambabezi to local communities, is wet from the light showers while the reflected sunlight hits directly on faces of hordes of pedestrians and cyclists who are laden with heavy loads of goods.

These are Zambian hawkers, male and female, all going towards Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe from Livingstone in Zambia.

Both Zambian and Zimbabwean border posts are called Victoria Falls Border, opening and closing at 6am and 10pm, respectively.

Women carry loads comprising second hand clothes, body lotions, skin lightening creams, shoes, horticultural products and other goods strapped to their backs with wrap-over cloths popularly known as chitenge in Zambia and intsaru or Zambia in Zimbabwe.

Men ride bicycles heavily laden with bags of mealie-meal, potatoes, beans and other goods usually up to 200kgs, fastened onto a carrier.

This is the story of Zambian hawkers, known locally as mzanga (friend), who migrate into Victoria Falls and as far as Hwange and Cross Dete, 160km away from the border, to sell their wares.

In some countries and ports of entry, these can be regarded as illegal traders or smugglers.

Zambia and Zimbabwe enjoy cordial bilateral relations and the traders use temporary travel documents, which are obtained at the border upon production of one’s national identity document.

The Immigration Department in Zimbabwe extends the service to Victoria Falls residents.

The temporary documents and Zambezi River make smuggling and irregular migration less common.

There is a close relationship between migration and trade and free movement of people is a key pillar of regional trade and economic integration.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that informal cross border trade can reach 43 percent of the official Gross Domestic Product in most countries despite the barriers to trade.

Mr Ernest Makalale from Livingstone is one of the dozens of cargo cyclists from Zambia.

He pedals with determined effort, the muscles in his legs working in powerful harmony to propel the bicycle forward with resilience.

Strapped to the bike’s frame or sometimes even on makeshift carriers, are various goods that tower above and hang off the sides, creating a mobile marketplace on two wheels.

His story is that of determination, hard work, physical strength and adaptability as he navigates through challenges to transport his cargo.

His eyes are focused, constantly scanning the path ahead for obstacles and hands gripped on the handlebars with a firm yet nimble touch, ready to make minute adjustments to keep the precarious load steady.

One might think they may struggle to propel the machine but alas, how they manage to move the bike speaks to years of experience and an intimate knowledge of their route.

However, breakdowns characterised mostly by tyre punctures and propel shafts failure affect omzanga who end up pushing their bikes as the business has to continue despite the challenges.

Their situation highlights the dynamic and sometimes challenging nature of cross-border trade in the region.

“I have been doing this for the past three years,” says Mr Makalele, aged 28.

He says the business helps him take care of his small family.

“I transport beans, cabbages and mealie-meal and usually my load will be 200kgs at a time. Customers usually place orders in advance and I know I will be delivering and collecting my money,” says Mr Makalele.

Like many of his countrymen, they pray to mother nature for luck to get customers, especially as Victoria Falls City Council police occasionally raid them for trading without licences.

“This job is not easy, but we have to do it because this is where we get our income. I cross everyday and only rest on weekends to do my household chores. I bring vegetables and tomatoes, which have attractive business but sometimes police arrest us and we pay fines,” said Ms Caroline Phiri, a trader from Zambia.

Some Victoria Falls small scale traders have complained about loss of business due to the influx of Zambians, but ordinary residents have commended the competitive prices from omzanga, making their presence critical.

Victoria Falls traders have complained that while they are compelled to pay rent to operate from designated places, Zambians are allowed door-to-door service.

The local authority, in response to these concerns, is working on by-laws to regulate economic activities and has identified land to build market stalls for Zambian vendors to operate from.

Victoria Falls’ Kalahari soils make horticulture impossible and the presence of wild animals such as baboons and elephants compound the situation.

Residents have to get farm produce from elsewhere including from omzanga.

There is positivism in the migration systems in Zimbabwe and Zambia, which also piloted the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (Kaza) Uni Visa to allow free movement for tourists from selected countries.

Omzanga are serving as a vital link in the value chain of local commerce, delivering goods to markets, shops and directly to customers with efficiency and resilience thereby contributing to both economies in Zambia and Zimbabwe.

On their way back, omzanga carry various kinds of goods for resale in their country.

The continent is implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) whose transformative goal is regional integration through seamless movement of goods among other goals that include enhancing food products and services, simplifying trade regulations, reducing transit times, optimising border posts and integrating border management.

There has been significant progress in implementing the AfCFTA with 47 out of 54 signatories ratifying the agreement as of April 2024, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

There are a number of migration protocols and frameworks designed to manage and facilitate the movement of people and goods across the continent.

These include the African Union (AU) Migration Policy Framework and Plan of Action (2018-2030), which aims to guide migration management in Africa until 2030 and addresses various aspects of migration, including governance, labour migration, education and the impact of remittances.

The Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Right of Establishment was adopted in 2018 to enable the free movement of persons, the right to reside and establish businesses across AU member states.

Various regions have their own Regional Economic Communities (RECs) Migration Policies that align with the broader AU framework and these facilitate intra-regional movement and address specific regional migration issues.

These protocols are at various stages of adoption and enforcement and are part of efforts to enhance integration, development and co-operation among African nations by allowing for more regulated and easier movement of people, which can contribute to economic growth and cultural exchange.

Zimbabwe has ratified several international conventions related to migration, including the International Labour Organisation Migration for Employment Convention, which deals with the conditions for the orderly recruitment and the protection of migrant workers, Refugee Convention and 1967 Refugee Protocol that define the status of refugees and outlines the legal protections and assistance they should receive.

The Migrant Workers Convention focuses on the rights of migrant workers and provides a set of guidelines for their treatment.

The United Nations Migrant Workers Convention protects the rights of all migrant workers and their families while the Human Trafficking Protocol and Migrant Smuggling Protocol aim to prevent and combat trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants, as well as to promote co-operation, among state parties.

Additionally, Zimbabwe launched a National Labour Migration Policy to help protect migrant workers.
The country still needs to ratify International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions on Migration for Labour and on Migrant Workers Supplementary Provisions to align its migration legislation with regional and international protocols.

Victoria Falls is a transit border for migrants mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and other countries going down to South Africa for jobs.

Some, however, fall victim to trafficking as in the case of 13 Ethiopians that were arrested in Victoria Falls in December 2023.

Such incidents reveal potential syndicates of human traffickers across borders.

Migration trends in Africa are multifaceted, reflecting a complex interplay of socio-economic, political and environmental factors, as well as conflict and political instability that causes internal displacement as well as migration across borders.

Climate change also causes displacements.

While some migrate within their own countries, others embark on dangerous journeys across international borders and are subjected to exploitation, discrimination and lack of access to essential services.

Despite these difficulties, migration continues to be an important aspect of African societies, shaping both local communities and the broader regional dynamics.

Zambia traders’ fortunes are different.

The Victoria Falls border handles about 1 000 tourists and traders daily on average, according to the Immigration Department.

Zambian traders make up a significant number while scores of Zimbabweans also cross for shopping and medical services in Livingstone.

The African Union Commission recently conducted a migration simulation training for journalists and communication specialists from across the continent in Victoria Falls to raise awareness about the need to challenge negative portrayal of migration in Western media.

The workshop was organised within the framework of the AU Migration Governance Training Programme supported by the AU-EU Continent-to-Continent Migration and Mobility Dialogue, implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), within the wider European Union funded Migration and Mobility Dialogue (MMD) Support Programme.

It was noted that media can play a role in dispelling myths and reporting on reality of migration in Africa.

The ILO reports that international migrant workers globally rose by three percent between 2017 and 2022 to 169 million, with many in sectors such as agriculture, health, domestic work, construction, cruise ships, education and engineering.

Trade among Africa states remains critically low at less than 10 percent.

Speaking at the recent training, Senior Technical Advisor – Migration Governance and Liaison in the AUC, Mr Peter Mudungwe implored the media in member states to play an advocacy role through engaging policy makers and helping portray migration as a development tool towards The Africa We Want Agenda 2063.

Ms Barbara Cuzuioc Weiss, ICMPD senior programmes officer re-iterated the need for the media to humanise migration and help change its negative portrayal.

Zimbabwe Immigration Chief Director, Ms Respect Gono said migration is a developmental reality that needs to be managed than challenged.

Migration benefits through remittances, brain gain, skills transfer, cultural exchange, filling market gaps and investment.

The World Migration Report of 2022 shows that there were 281 million international migrants globally, which is 36 percent of the world’s population.

Out of 23 million sub-saharan Africa’s international migrants, 16 million (70 percent) stay in the region, while North Africa moves to Europe.

Most Africans migrate within the continent contrary to myths that they move to Europe. — @ncubeleon