Namibia edges closer to South

Customs connectivity between Nambia and South Africa is a boost for the region as a whole. This is Walvis Bay, Namibia’s largest coastal city. Image: Adobe Stock

Namibia edges closer to South Africa with customs connectivity

Namibia has implemented ‘smart border’ customs controls with South Africa in a step that will enhance movement of goods between the countries.

Namibia edges closer to South

Customs connectivity between Nambia and South Africa is a boost for the region as a whole. This is Walvis Bay, Namibia’s largest coastal city. Image: Adobe Stock

Namibia introduced customs connectivity with South Africa in February. The move is being hailed as good news for the entire region. The first phase of a project that will see Namibia achieving connectivity with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) in South Africa is now under way.

Every year, millions of Africans travel across the borders between countries in Africa. The rollout of an African Union passport is expected to pick up pace in 2021. This will require modern, effective and efficient management of countries’ external borders.

COUNTRIES BEGINNING TO INTEGRATE BORDER CONTROLS

Seamless trade, travel and transport are part of the deal envisaged under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. The agreement will allow for the free movement of people, money and goods across the African continent.

In addition, the initiative aims to launch a single African passport for all African Union (AU) nations.  The AU passport was expected to be rolled out in many countries in 2020, but few things have stayed on schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The launch of one connected Africa is picking up pace with countries beginning to integrate their customs controls. Countries are making progress in connecting border management systems which regulate cross-border movements of people and goods.

REGIONAL CUSTOMS UNION

In 2016, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) — a customs union between South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini and Namibia — adopted an IT connectivity framework for transmitting customs data between member states.

The blueprint outlined a common standard all SACU member states must adhere to to enable the transmission of data between the various states. This process is commonly called Customs to Customs connectivity.

After the member states agreed on the blueprint and legal aspects entailed in the framework, member nations were expected to begin working towards implementation. South Africa and Eswatini (Swaziland) were the first nations to implement customs connectivity in 2017. Other nations have been slower in making progress, but Namibia has now come on board.

DATA SHARING BETWEEN COUNTRIES  

The UK government has been supporting Namibia in the implementation of its border connectivity. Namibia has implemented the first phase of its Customs to Customs connectivity strategy.

Solution architect at GTS, Anton Eccles, has been working closely with Namibian customs and excise to create connectivity with South Africa’s SARS system. Eccles said such connectivity would allow enhanced trade and exchange of information between countries.

“It will enable data exchange between the countries and facilitate trade within the SACU region. Overall, there will be far more visibility in the system, with discrepancies being rooted out more easily,” Eccles said, as quoted by Freight News.