from ODIRILE TOTENG in Gaborone, Botswana
Botswana Bureau
GABORONE, (CAJ News) – SOME Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional member states are participating in the Corridor Trip Monitoring System (CTMS) pilot project aimed at facilitating safe regional trade, transport and tourism.
Implemented on sections of the Trans Kalahari, Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi, Beira, Nacala and North-South Corridors, it is also aimed at the reopening of economies following disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe are voluntarily participating in the CTMS pilot project that is initiative of the three regional economic communities.
These are Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community.
CTMS was developed under the Tripartite Transport and Trade Facilitation Programme (TTTFP) in 2020 as an electronic monitoring and surveillance system to facilitate safe cross border movement of goods and persons during the pandemic.
The European Union (EU) provides the main funding.
The German Agency for International Cooperation provides additional funding of CTMS equipment deployed at borders.
CTMS is a tool for monitoring compliance with cross border regulations and requirements.
It is one of the outputs of the €21 million EU-funded TTTFP, which is aimed at facilitating the development of a more competitive, integrated and liberalised regional road transport market in the COMESA-EAC-SADC bloc.
– CAJ News