ZIMBABWE is intensifying its push to join the lucrative US$260 million Kazungula bridge project, constructed jointly by neighbouring Zambia and Botswana, Zimbabwe Independent can report.

This strategic regional trade artery, completed in 2021, was funded by multilateral lenders, including the African Development Bank (AfDB), Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the European Union (EU)-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund. Initially in 2011, Zimbabwe, under the leadership of Robert Mugabe and facing Western sanctions, showed no interest in participating in the bridge project, commissioned by Zambia’s former leader Edgar Lungu and his Batswana counterpart Mokgweetsi Masisi.

However, the 923-metre-long bridge's completion, which aims to deepen regional integration and support the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), prompted Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa to lobby for Zimbabwe's inclusion.

A special committee has now been established to review Zimbabwe's bid to join the project, which is currently managed by Zambia and Botswana through the Kazungula Bridge Authority. Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development Secretary Joy Makumbe confirmed this development.

“The bridge is currently being managed by the Republic of Botswana and the Republic of Zambia. However, as you might be aware, a decision was made in 2021 by the heads of State for Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe for Zimbabwe to join the project,” she said.

“A technical committee has since been set up to look into reviewing the legal framework, financial framework and technical designs to allow full implementation of this decision. This work is currently underway.”

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While the exact financial contribution required from Zimbabwe is still under discussion, sources confirmed that the committee would deliberate on this matter. The committee will also address legal implications and financial costs, given that Zimbabwe was not a recipient of the loans used to build the bridge.

“Members of the technical committee will be seized with looking at the financial costs that Zimbabwe will have to foot considering that it was not among the parties (Zambia and Botswana) which are recipients of loans from the multilateral lenders,” a source close to the engagements told this publication at the time.

“This will also have legal implications which the technical committee is currently looking at. It is still work in progress.”

Additionally, the committee's deliberations will focus on resolving a border dispute between Zimbabwe and Botswana, which arose from the positioning of border beacon BB842 near the Kazungula bridge.

As a result of those claims, Zimbabwe’s Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development minister Anxious Masuka held an urgent meeting with Botswana’s Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services minister Kefentse Mzwinial in December 2023 to thrash out the border dispute. A source privy to the explosive December meeting said Botswana’s delegation “outlandishly claimed” that beacon BB842 was placed on the wrong position, a claim Zimbabwe’s team “vehemently refuted based on long-standing and globally held cartography data”.

This dispute has led to high-level interactions between Harare and Gaborone to determine whether the bridge encroaches into Zimbabwean territory.

Efforts to get a comment from Zambian authorities through its Information and Publicity secretary Kenney Kalunga were futile.

Similarly, Zimbabwean officials at the Ministry of Transport did not address the questions sent.

Questions sent to AfDB officials via email to understand whether Zimbabwe's inclusion in the initiative would have a bearing on the repayment schedule of the loan it extended towards construction of the bridge were not addressed at the time of going to press.

The Kazungula Bridge, with two border facilities on either side in Botswana and Zambia, is designed to boost trade between the two countries and enhance transport along the North-South Corridor, part of the Trans-African Highway on the Cape to Cairo route.

The bridge is jointly owned by Zambia and Botswana, with funding sourced from toll fees. The newly formed Kazungula Bridge Authority is responsible for operating and maintaining the entire infrastructure.

In 2021, President Mnangagwa was invited by his counterparts from Zambia and Botswana to the unveiling ceremony of the bridge,where he emphasized the importance of incorporating Zimbabwe into the project.

The inclusion of Zimbabwe in the Kazungula bridge project is seen as a significant step towards regional integration and economic development, aligning with the broader objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).