24 Feb 2026

As part of the process to ultimately evolve into a non-stop border post, the Kazungula One Stop Border Post (OSBP) will start to operate on a 24-hour basis.

President Advocate Duma Boko said at the Botswana and Zambia’s joint launch of the Kazungula Bridge Authority (KBA) on February 24 that the decision to have the border post operate on a round-the-clock basis followed his engagements with his Zambian counterpart, Mr Hakainde Hichilema on the sidelines of the recent 39th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

President Boko said the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) would champion the process of enabling the OSBP transformation into a non-stop border post, an assignment that would require the BSE to engage with its technical partners to conceptualise the technologies that would enable the evolution.

Regarding the Kazungula Bridge Authority, he said its launch cemented the longstanding bilateral relations between Botswana and Zambia, describing the bridge as a template worthy of emulation by others in Africa.

He said other African nations should draw inspiration from the collaboration between Botswana and Zambia and open similar corridors so that the continent would advance as a unit that spoke to the African heritage.

“The Kazungula Bridge is an iconic connection between two countries poised as an exemplifier of what collaboration can achieve and standing as a benchmark for the rest of Africa,” he said, noting how the establishment of the Kazungula Bridge Authority highlighted the extent to which resilient and dynamic partnerships could be of impact to the people.

President Boko said the Authority would create better regional connections, open more corridors of trade and eliminate queueing of goods and travellers.

Zambia President Mr Hichilema reiterated the value of technology advancement, saying it presented many opportunities that would make a non-stop border post a success.

Mr Hichilema stated that there was need to remove bottlenecks created by the processes that travellers had to follow at the border post, observing that doing away with such would lower costs of doing business and stimulate efficiency.

He said the bridge was a significant infrastructure piece not just for Botswana and Zambia but for Namibia and Zimbabwe who also formed part of the unique quad point.

“The value of this unique asset goes beyond the four countries because there is Democratic Republic Congo, Angola and the rest of Africa who are also players in this bridge while we are just custodians,” President Hichilema said.

He indicated that the bridge was an anchor to deepening African trade, saying the potential increase in the number of trucks utilising the border from 400 to 1 000 in a day spoke to how impactful it would be to trade in the region and beyond.

He said the Kazungula Bridge OSBP was a preferred route and a key component of the North-South Corridor, hence it was essential to invest into it so that its premium status could be maintained.

Mr Hichilema stated that the iconic bridge called for innovation to establish floating restaurants on the Chobe-Zambezi confluence in order to broaden the affected countries’ tourism product offering.

Kgosi Morgan Makhanga of Kazungula said the bridge connected Botswana and Zambia and stood as a powerful symbol of unity and shared cultural heritage.

Kgosi Makhanga said further to it enhancing trade, the bridge had created employment opportunities, thereby improving the lives of citizens.

He however asked the two Heads of States to review customs charges, road levies and insurance fees charged at the border, alleging that they were higher than those levied on travellers at other border posts. ENDS