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ZIMBABWE has been praised for its leadership in championing the adoption of the Electronic Certificate of Origin (e-CoO), a cornerstone of the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) drive to modernise trade and customs systems in line with emerging 21st-century paradigms such as e-commerce, e-payment, and smart border management.
This commendation was made during a high-level regional validation workshop on the Study to Evaluate the Impact of the Electronic Certificate of Origin, held recently in Lusaka, Zambia.
The meeting brought together senior customs officials, trade experts, and development partners to assess the status and impact of e-CoO implementation across the region.
The Certificate of Origin is a crucial trade document used to prove the origin of goods to qualify for duty-free or preferential treatment under the SADC Free Trade Area (FTA), which has been operational since 2008.
Traditionally paper-based, the transition to a fully electronic version is seen as a major leap in reducing trade bottlenecks.
In a statement, the SADC Secretariat said the impact study was commissioned in May 2024 under the guidance of the Trade Negotiation Forum (TNF), with technical and financial backing from GIZ through the Cooperation for Enhancement of SADC Regional Economic Integration (CESARE) Programme.
The findings propose key policy and operational recommendations for full regional implementation of the e-CoO system by 2026, aligning with broader digital trade facilitation goals.
Zimbabwe was represented by Mr Batsirai Chadzingwa, Commissioner of Customs at the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), who chaired the proceedings.
He reaffirmed Zimbabwe’s strong commitment to regional digital transformation efforts.
“He underscored the need of digitising trade and customs processes in the 21st century in line with emerging paradigms such as e-commerce, e-payment, and e-CoO,” read part of the official communiqué.
“This initiative will promote investment, improve the ease of doing business and support the implementation of the Industrialisation Strategy as part of the consolidation of the Free Trade Area in line with the Regional Integration Agenda.”
The Commissioner General of the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), Mr Dingani Banda, echoed the importance of embracing digital innovations to streamline trade.
“The e-CoO initiative, endorsed in 2019 by Ministers, aims to modernise trade processes, reduce the cost of doing business, combat fraud, and enhance efficiency,” he said.
“I commend Member States such as Zimbabwe, who are pioneering its implementation alongside smart border and electronic customs data exchange reforms.”
Since its launch in September 2022 in Blantyre, Malawi, the e-CoO has been rolled out in Zimbabwe, Eswatini,
Botswana, Mauritius, Namibia, and Tanzania. The shift from paper to digital certification marks a significant step forward in SADC’s quest for deeper economic integration.
Unlike the manual system often plagued by delays, inefficiencies and fraud the e-CoO offers numerous benefits.
These include reduced transaction costs and processing time, real-time verification across borders, enhanced fraud prevention through secure electronic transmission, and improved statistical data reporting.
The Lusaka workshop concluded with the validation of the study and consensus on a regional action plan to fast-track implementation.
The SADC Secretariat affirmed that all SADC FTA Member States are expected to have adopted and operationalised the e-CoO system by 2026.
As the region accelerates toward full digital trade facilitation, Zimbabwe’s proactive stance continues to position it as a regional trailblazer and key enabler of intra-African commerce transformation.
Online Reporter