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George Maponga in Masvingo
The Shipping and Forwarding Agents’ Association of Zimbabwe (SFAAZ) has lauded the Second Republic’s signature infrastructural projects that are set to expedite the inward and outward movement of both human traffic and cargo in Zimbabwe.
SFAAZ represents shipping lines, freight forwarders, customs clearing agents and bonded warehouse operators and the organisation is holding its 17th annual conference in Masvingo that is set to be officially opened today by the director, Customs Cooperation, Trade Facilitation, Transit and Senior Advisor to the Secretary-General, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat, Ms Gyang Demitta Chinwude.
The Second Republic, under President Mnangagwa has expanded the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport which now has capacity to accommodate 6 million passengers from 2,5 million, while the Beitbridge Border Post was refurbished into one of the best in the region with improved
efficiency.
Internally, signature projects like the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge highway expansion, that facilitates faster movement of humans and goods locally, are underway.
SFAAZ chief executive Mr Washington Dube said his organisation’s annual conference comes at a times when a lot of developments across the local economic landscape were pivoting Zimbabwe towards becoming an upper middle income society by 2030.
He said the expanded capacity of RGM International Airport, among other signature projects, is a boom for the clearing and forwarding sector.
”We are looking at the expanded capacity of RGM International Airport and the resultant increase in capacity to accommodate 6 million passengers from about 2,5 million. The increase in capacity is not only in terms of human traffic but also in the movement of goods which is a boon for our sector so these flagship projects by the Second Republic will indeed add impetus to attainment of Vision 2030 goals,” said Mr Dube.
He lauded the ongoing rehabilitation of the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge highway saying it was a boon for people who deal with supply chains as goods will be quickly moved from most parts of Zimbabwe to larger markets beyond the country’s borders into Africa and the diaspora.
Mr Dube said his organisation dreamt of a day when Africa will operate as one borderless continent which will be a humongous market for freely moving goods satiate the needs of almost 1,3 billion inhabitants.
”We still hope to see a day when the continent will do away with borders because Africans are one people. We dream of a borderless continental dispensation on the continent because there is a lot of time that is wasted along borders with goods spending days to be cleared. Why should we have a situation where goods that have gone through custom processes and get cleared in Zambia, go through the same process again in Zimbabwe?”
The advent of AfCFTA is also a boom for trade on the continent as the move removes barriers to free movement of goods.
He also urged Government to move in and regulate the clearing and forwarding industry in Zimbabwe saying enacting legislation regulating the sector would engender sanity and order which are stimuli for further growth.
Ms Demitta Chinwude zeroed in on the progress in rolling out AfCFTA saying the continent is already reaping positive spin-offs from this landmark development that will boost intra-African trade thereby growing economies on the continent and by extension lifting millions of people out of poverty.
National Handling Services (NHS) board chair Mr Franklin Mukarakate said the expansion of RGM International Airport is a game-changer in terms of air passenger and cargo traffic into Zimbabwe.
Online Reporter