The UPND Government realizes need to step up on transportation services because of an increase
in Zambia’s economic activities and trade.
According to its manifesto, transport which forms the backbone of the economy should be of value
since it is usually taken for granted. As such, the manifesto brings out several concerns related to
transportation services, the policies to implement to address these concerns and how to implement
them.
Among the concerns highlighted in the manifesto is investment in the transportation infrastructure
which has been one-sided. Focus was directed mainly on road infrastructure which requires high
maintenance, repair and rehabilitation costs than the equivalent rail. Zambia’s lack of less costly
and efficient options like the rail has further increased its overall transport costs.
Yet another issue discussed in the manifesto is the inability of local transporters to benefit more
from public investment than their foreign counterparts in road infrastructure. The country has also
been spending huge sums of money on imported transport services because the bulk of the
transportation business is captured by foreign operatives plying the Zambian roads. In the process,
imported transportation services have increased disproportionately more than domestic services.
Zambia’s balance of payments expenditure on imported transportation services increased from
US$210 million in 2004 to US$957 million in 2018.
Furthermore, Zambia has placed public investment focus on urban transportation infrastructure
and main artery national and regional inter-connectors, much to the neglect of rural transportation
infrastructure service development. Connecting rural areas and communities, particularly
agricultural communities, to national and regional commercial centers, the maintenance, repair,
rehabilitation and upgrade of rural transport networks, systems and infrastructure services, is
crucial.
In the aviation sector, Zambia has opted to invest extensively in many international airports, but
without robust commercialization strategies for these airports. Modernization and digitization
strategies to turn the airports into high- functioning world-class international establishments that
are end-destinations or logistical hubs in themselves are non-existent. Furthermore, innovative
approaches to integrate the airport into the cities where they are located (e.g., overnight tourism
passes into the city) are lacking.
Additionally, in response to the several highlighted concerns, the new dawn government intends
to implement its policies by paying attention to balancing investments in road and rail
infrastructure going forward, leveraging PPPs that provide balanced fiscal risks and aligning with
the medium-term budgetary headroom (capacity). Under the UPND, Zambia will draw
increasingly on bilateral as well as joint regional infrastructure development and transport trade
facilitation arrangements under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), COMESA
and SADC.
Therefore, in implementing its policies, the UPND government is guided by its overriding
objective in the transport sector to strengthen domestic and regional connectivity, with the view to
connecting producers with markets, supporting participation in regional and global value chains,
lowering the cost of doing business, enhancing competitiveness, and improving public service
delivery. In this regard, the UPND government intends to prioritize rational and balanced public
investment in road and rail infrastructure, which leverages PPPs and FDIs and is founded on a
track record of good governance and sound economic management. It will also ensure that local
transporters benefit from public investment in road infrastructure and that the modernisation and
commercialisation of the aviation sector brings positive returns on investment. Lastly, it aims at
establishing the right environment for ensuring that domestic economic actors thrive from public
investment in road infrastructure.
Some of the policies the UPND Government intends to implement as stated in its manifesto
include;
a. Ensure an effective transport policy for supporting efficient and equitable licensing and
registration procedures as well as the fair distribution of and access to economic and transport
business opportunities, through transparent and impartial procurement and contracting rules and
practices.
b. Ensure an effective policy for guaranteeing the full participation of local private transporters
in the transport services sector.
c. Enhance coherence between transport policy and trade, commercial and industrial policies, to
support the upgrading of domestic services and integration into regional and global transportation
value chains.
d. Promote PPPs and FDI in the transportation sector to improve both the capitalisation prospects
for the private sector and the future fiscal revenue stream for the government from the past public
investments.
e. Bring advanced technology to border post management to ensure efficiency and transparency
in the movement of goods and people
f. Establish proactive services import demand management policies and strategies through
balance of payments,
However, beyond urban roads, the UPND proposes to invest heavily in rural roads linking farming
communities to markets. This is a huge project which will require huge capital investment. What
is of major concern is that it is hard to attract private sector investments in rural project. This
contradicts the UPND’S manifesto’s proposal to significantly cut down on capital expenditure.
This might push them into heavy borrowing.
Manifestos cannot be expected to respond to every piece of advice from advisory bodies.
Therefore, a national conversation among policy makers and citizens could be of help.
Stakeholders need to also debate, discuss and analyze how transportation can evolve to meet
growing and evolving needs and adapt to changes in society, technology, the environment and
Zambia’s economic activities and trade.