Zimbabwe has signed a financing agreement to modernize and streamline operations at the Chirundu border post, the country’s main crossing point into Zambia, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development announced on Tuesday.
Zimbabwe’s Transport Minister said the government had entered into a public-private partnership with the Chirundu Border Consortium, a group of private-sector stakeholders, to finance the modernization of the strategic facility. The value of the agreement was not disclosed.
The project includes the refurbishment of ageing infrastructure and the deployment of modern processing and operating systems aimed at reducing crossing times, queues and congestion at the border.
Opened in 2009, Chirundu was presented as Africa’s first one-stop border post. It now occupies a strategic position along the North-South Corridor, one of the region’s main trade routes.
The border is a key transit point for goods moving between ports in South Africa and Mozambique and markets further north, including Zambia. Its modernization is expected to facilitate the movement of people and goods while improving the efficiency of regional trade.
