12 Nov 2015

The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Mr Neil Fitt says Botswana has a disadvantage in the transportation of goods because it is landlocked.

Speaking at the Trans Kgalagadi Corridor information session recently in Francistown, Mr Fitt said the country, in partnership with its neighbours, was trying to minimise the disadvantage through corridors. He said corridors make the transportation of goods cheaper by reducing the time taken to reach the destination. He added that corridors also stimulate the economy as they bring in and export goods between countries. 

He noted that Namibia was working closely with Botswana to facilitate the transportation of goods, and that a port for Botswana has been introduced in Walvis Bay. Furthermore, he said SADC was putting a lot of work in ensuring that corridors were successful as they contribute towards regional integration.

Mr Fitt said Botswana was working on improving telecommunications coverage in the Trans Kgalagadi Corridor and that by next month, his ministry would meet all the three major network providers to come up with ways of ensuring that there was network coverage throughout the corridor.

He said full network coverage would ensure the safety of the corridor users in times of emergencies such as breakdowns. The executive director for the corridor secretariat, Mr Leslie Mpofu said the Trans Kgalagadi Corridor, which connects Namibia and South Africa through Botswana was approximately 1 900 kilometres (km).

Mr Mpofu said the corridor was a strategic route that provides linkages between the Americas and East European markets as well as Southern Africa. He also noted that member states of the corridor were expected to come up with policies and programmes that would ensure the success of the corridor.

The chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walvis Bay Corridor Port Group, Mr Jonny Smith said the Botswana port was underutilised and appealed to Batswana to utilise the port for all their imports and exports.

Mr Smith said most of the goods that arrive at Walvis Bay on transit to Zimbabwe go through Francistown hence the second city has the potential of becoming a transport and logistics hub. Ends