Southern African Trade and Connectivity Project (Malawi)
The National Roads Authority (NRA) officially handed over the Mwanza OSBP to the Ministry of Trade at an event officiated by Minister of Trade and Industry Sosten Gwengwe MP at Mwanza Border Post on Wednesday 17 July. Speaking at the official handover ceremony, the minister said government is committed to ensuring that international traders do not spend much time to transact trade and travelling documents at the country’s main border post in order to promote the country’s economy through cross border trade.
He expressed optimism that the quality of service delivery and dedication of members of staff at the OSBP would improve because of the modern working equipment provided at the facility by government.
Six government departments and agencies such as the Malawi Revenue Authority, Immigration, Malawi Bureau of Standards, Agriculture, police and Port Health with Trade and Industry as lead ministry are housed in one modern structure to enhance coordination.
The MK5.5 billion (billion) OSBP is a World Bank funded project facilitated by the government and construction work commenced through the NRA in 2021.
With support from SATCP, the Department of Trade is implementing a number of trade facilitation initiatives which include the activities under the National Trade Facilitation Committees and Sub Committees.
Under the Subcommittee on One Stop Border Posts, operationalization of OSBPs is one of the key trade facilitation initiatives being championed by the Sub Committee with the aim of fast-tracking the process of simplifying, harmonizing and expediting procedures at Malawi’s border posts. The Mwanza OSBP project was constructed by the World Bank through a sister project to SATCP called Southern Africa Trade and Transport Facilitation Project (SATTFP).
