Trans Kalahari Corridor Secretariat (TKCS) 1252 views

The Trans Kalahari Corridor (TKC) is a tripartite trans-boundary Corridor Management Institution that was established with a political and economic vision to pursue or contribute towards deeper regional integration programs of SADC, SACU and indeed NEPAD.

The Trans Kalahari Corridor (TKC) is a road network spanning approximately 1900 kilometers across the territories of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. It starts in the Gauteng Province in South Africa and continues through Rustenburg and Zeerust in the North-West Province, through Lobatse and Kanye in Botswana, the Mamuno and Trans Kalahari Border Posts, through Gobabis, Windhoek and Okahandja in Namibia and right through to the Port of Walvis Bay.

The port of Walvis Bay on the west coast of Namibia strategically links to other Corridors in the sub-region, namely: Trans Kunene Corridor, Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi (Trans Caprivi) Corridor, Windhoek-Luanda Corridor and Trans Oranje Corridor. Road network linkages cut across these Corridors creating a strategic network. The TKC also connects the ports of Walvis Bay with the Maputo Corridor, resulting in the Coast-to-Coast Corridor.

This Corridor is known for providing a short transport link across the entire breadth of the South African Sub-continent. Compared to the traditional routes via southern Namibia to South Africa’s Gauteng, TKC cuts the distance by 400 kilometers, making it a more preferred route and providing cost effective logistical advantages to users.

The TKC is a strategic route-of-choice that provides linkages between the Americas and East European markets and the Southern African hinterland.

In compliance with the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communication & Meteorology, the TKC Governments established a TKC Planning / Management Committee in 1999. The three Governments, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, generally referred to as the TKC Governments, and the involvement of the private sector in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, can attribute TKC’s success to the inherent political will.

The PPP arrangement has its basis in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Development and Management of the TKC, concluded among the three Governments on 3 November 2003 in Walvis Bay, Namibia.

The signing of the MOU cements the commitment of the three Governments to achieve the transport objectives of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), which advocates “working with regional organizations to develop transport development corridors”.
This commitment can be viewed in the context of attaining the goal of reducing transport costs and transit times in order to increase competitiveness of goods produced within the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It promotes and/or operationalizes the Trade Facilitation instruments of the World Trade Organization (WCO).

The MOU places the responsibility for its operationalization under the custody and jurisdiction of the Trans Kalahari Corridor Management Committee (TKCMC) constituting its Executive Body. The TKCMC comprises of public and private sector stakeholders – a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) which serves as the transmission belt for the regulation and oversight of the development and implementation of seamless cross-border trade/transport/passenger facilitation measures that enhance growth of corridor business.

The TKCMC equally acts as a regional Corridor Facilitation Committee under the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communication and Meteorology. Key actors of the TKCMC PPP arrangement include Transport Ministries/Departments, Transport Agencies, Customs Administrations, Immigration Authorities, Police Services, Port Authorities, Road Transport Associations, Freight Forwarders and Clearing Agents. Operationally the Technical Working Groups and the Trans Kalahari Corridor Secretariat (TKCS) support the TKCMC. The Secretariat oversees the day-to-day administration and operations of the agreement under the TKCMC leadership. The over arching goal is to stimulate economic growth, trade promotion and creation of employment in the three countries, hence contributes enormously to countries’ Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) of poverty reduction and unemployment.

The Secretariat was established on 1 March 2007 and its Headquarters is in Windhoek, Namibia. As such, the corridor already serves as a model of a fully functional Corridor Management Institution (CMI) for cross-border Trade and Transport facilitation in Southern Africa and beyond.