(HERALD) UK pledges more funding for Zim

UK pledges more funding for Zim
Business Reporter

THE United Kingdom this year extended about US$100 million in development aid to Zimbabwe and has pledged more funding following the formation of the inclusive Government.

Head of the UK’s Department for International Development in Zimbabwe Mr Dave Fish said the funding extended to Zimbabwe this year alone represented the single largest by the UK in one year.

Mr Fish was addressing delegates attending the official launch of the Chirundu One-Stop Border Post in the border town last Saturday.

He said the UK, encompassing Britain, was considering increasing the level of financial support to Zimbabwe contrary to media suggestions that it would cut on funding to this country.

"The UK this year provided US$100 million aid to Zimbabwe, this is the highest ever inside one year. I am surprised at media reports that the UK is planning to reduce support to Zimbabwe.

"After the formation of the inclusive Government, British support to Zimbabwe is expected to increase. Britain is really committed to supporting poverty reduction in Zimbabwe and Zambia and is also in strong support to regional integration," he said.

Mr Fish said support to Zimbabwe was set to increase on the back of stronger economic ties after Zimbabwe signed an interim economic partnership agreement with the European Union. He said an estimated 30 percent of the country’s exports end up in the UK.

The DFID head in Zimbabwe also hailed the establishment of the Chirundu One-Stop Border Post saying despite the huge costs involved the effort would bring about huge tangible benefits.

Mr Fish said the one stop border post was testimony of the level real trust between the people and governments of Zimbabwe and Zambia.

This development, said Mr Fish, was a major step for Africa’s integration and would enhance region’s quest for a common market.

Speaking at the same occasion the secretary general of the East African Community Ambassador Juma Mwapacho said the Chirundu One Stop Border Post would enhance regional integration.

Ambassador Mwapacho said the new border clearance system would enhance the region’s grand objective of a Free Trade Area and also result in reduced cost of doing business in Africa.

Before the new border system was introduced at Chirundu it cost a single truck an average of US$140 in fixed costs per day and a total of US$420 in expenditure for a single truck each day.

This made the process extremely expensive considering that some trucks spent up to six days waiting to be cleared at the border post.

It was against this background that the region-Sadc- Comesa-EAC sought to integrate their immigration and customs systems, which entails the development of the North-South Corridor.

Ambassador Mwapacho also said the international community had provided US$1,2 billion in assistance for establishment of the North-South Corridor in support of regional integration programmes.

Financial support came from Japan’s International Cooperation Agency, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, DFID and the EU.

He also announced that DBSA would mobilise US$1.5 billion to support the development of the North-South Corridor, which would link Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania and the Southern Ports of Durban and Port Elizabeth in the Republic of South Africa.

The North South Corridor is an initiative of the regional integration tripartite programme under Comesa, SADC and EAC. It aims to reduce the cost doing business through enhancing efficiencies in cross border clearance systems in regional countries.