Zambia and Tanzania have reached an agreement to toughen up border controls in a joint bid to clamp down on trade-based financial crime.

The two countries will focus in particular on illegal trading activities at the Nakonde-Tunduma border post.

Inland port

The agreement was struck during the sixth joint meeting of permanent secretaries of Zambia and Tanzania, which was convened specifically to address Nakonde-Tunduma border challenges.

Nakonde is a major entry and exit point for imports and exports to and from landlocked Zambia, which relies heavily on road links from the border town to port facilities in Dar es Salaam in neighbouring Tanzania for its international trading activities.

Revenue gains

The border post is therefore seen by Zambia as a strategic facility for tax revenue collections from trade not only with East Africa, but also with Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Far East.

The permanent secretaries from the two countries resolved to tighten control over trade at the border, and will specifically target misinvoicing and other trade-based financial crimes, including black market currency dealing, perpetrated on the border.

The authorities will also increase their efforts to eliminate human trafficking at the Nakonde-Tunduma border.