The establishment of a COMESA Trade Information Desk (TID) at the Nakonde border between Zambia and Tanzania has led to a massive reduction in the use of illegal routes by small scale cross border traders.

The TID which is run by the Cross-Border Traders Association CBTA was established under the COMESA Regional Integration Support Mechanism (RISM) with support from the European Union in 2018.

Speaking during the monitoring and evaluation mission conducted by a joint team from COMESA and the Zambia Ministry of Commerce, Trade and industry in Nakonde on Monday, 21 October 2020, CBTA Secretary General Christine Phiri Sikombe confirmed that unlike before, majority of small scale cross border traders now use legal routes.

“Despite challenges faced in organizing informal trade, the TID officer has worked tirelessly to ensure that most traders are sensitized about the use of the TID office and membership to the CBTA has since increased from 200 in 2018 to 400 registered and paid up members by mid-2020,” she said.

COMESA team encouraged the CBTA to introduce cluster model to run their businesses.

COMESA RISM Program Assistant Mr Mwiinga Mwiinga said working in clusters would help the small-scale traders to maximize their profits as they sell their goods in large quantities. It will also help them to have better negotiating power especially when approached by the unscrupulous traders who take advantage of their solo operations.