The 923-metre-long by 18.5-metre-wide Kazungula Bridge – set to link the town of Kazungula in Zambia with Botswana – is expected to be completed by the end of 2020, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB) which is funding the project.
The Kazungula Bridge Project will have a single-line railway track, a pavement for pedestrians and two one-stop border posts. Once completed, the bridge will be connected to the Mosetse-Kazungula Railway.
“It is obvious that once completed, the Kazungula Bridge Project will actually bridge the regional divide,” said Mamady Souare, manager for regional integration operations at the AfDB, highlighting that the project would “transform the dynamics of transportation in surrounding communities, counties and cities, boosting road travel and the ease of doing business within the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the East African Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa)”.
Following feasibility studies and funding approval for the US$260-million project by the board of the AfDB in 2011, construction began in 2014.
“When completed, the bridge and one-stop-border-post facilities will enhance regional trade, spur increased global competitiveness due to reduced time-based trade and transport costs, and reduce transit time for freight and passengers from between three to eight days to less than half a day,” added Souare.
