TECHNICAL REPORTS

As the anchor for the Nacala Corridor that mainly serves Northern Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia, the Port of Nacala contributes significantly to the delays experienced moving goods along the corridor from the wharf to their final inland destination. Compared to Durban where dwell time is in the region of two days, the Port of Nacala performs poorly with reported dwell times of more than 20 days. Reducing this dwell time is crucial to improving trade flows in the region, reducing costs and enhancing the competitiveness of the ports.

The Port of Beira, as the anchor for the Beira Corridor that mainly serves Zimbabwe and Malawi, contributes significantly to the delays experienced moving goods along the corridor from the wharf to their final inland destination. Compared to Durban, where dwell time is in the region of two days, the Port of Beira performs poorly with reported dwell times of about 20 days. Reducing this dwell time is crucial to improving trade flows in the region, reducing costs and enhancing the competitiveness of the ports.

The Port of Dar es Salaam, as the anchor for the Central, and Dar Corridors, contributes significantly to the delays experienced moving goods along the corridors from the wharf to their final inland destination. Compared to Durban, where dwell time is in the region of two days, the Dar es Salaam port performs poorly with reported dwell times of up to 17 days (although dwell times have reportedly been reduced recently, the delays are still substantial). Reducing these dwell times is crucial to improving trade flows in the region, reducing costs and enhancing the competitiveness of these ports.

The past decade has seen significant change in Southern Africa's railway operations. Following years of declining traffic, deterioration of infrastructure and equipment along with redundant labor forces, international donors and lenders pressured many of the state owned railways to move to privatization through concessioning. A number of concessions moved forward in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Tanzania. South Africa, Botswana and Namibia did not concession but moved to corporatize independent state owned enterprises that were charged with operation and maintenance of the countries railways.

It is widely accepted that immigration plays an important role in economic growth and prosperity. Immigration enables countries to attract skills and experience that might otherwise not be available, and also to attract investors and entrepreneurs, and thereby to raise economic growth and incomes.

This applies as much to Botswana as to other countries. Botswana's key economic challenges are diversifying the economy through the establishment of new economic activities; promoting entrepreneurship and innovation; promoting new export activities and the penetration of regional and international markets; and engaging with globalization, including the global labor market. Immigration is most often thought of in terms of its ability to relieve skills shortages, but it has a more extensive impact than this. In particular immigration can support diversification by attracting entrepreneurs who will invest in new economic activities, and who can help to develop international markets for goods and services.

Trade policy is one of many tools for improving productivity, increasing competitiveness and promoting long-term economic development. It is about far more than tariff negotiations. Similarly, SADC is about much more than implementing and extending the Trade Protocol. Great progress has been made; but much more could be done, in a much broader range of areas, to achieve more meaningful and productive economic integration—globally and in the region. Despite substantial reform at the Member State and SADC-wide levels, trade remains costly and continues to be hampered by well-intended initiatives whose unintended negative consequences for the region's development are insufficiently appreciated.

Increases in global trade coupled with advancements in technology pose multiple challenges and will continue to pose more serious challenges to customs authorities and other agencies involved in the movement of international trade. This trend is expected to grow in leaps and bounds over time. It is with this in mind that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Development and Management of the Trans Kalahari Corridor (TKC) together with instruments such as the World Customs Organization (WCO) Revised Kyoto Convention and Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade emphasize measures to reduce risks associated with international trade and promote the efficient and effective utilization of limited resources.

As part of the ongoing effort to modernize customs throughout eastern and southern Africa, a need was identified to introduce Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions. These solutions are aimed at streamlining cumbersome customs and trade facilitation procedures thereby reducing delays in cargo clearance and transit times while working towards a paperless, communicating, fully accountable and reportable trading environment.

Governments are looking more and more towards Independent Power Producers (IPPs), or combinations of IPPs and state owned utilities, to meet the demand for new electricity generation. In South Africa, for example, Government policy dictates that 30% of all new generation capacity must come from Independent Power Producers. In Botswana, a big IPP Project is being planned, aiming to sell the majority of its power to Eskom.