*Kazungula marvel unites Botswana and Zambia
Like the timeless lyrics of Simon and Garfunkel; “When times get rough and friends just can’t be found, like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down” the Kazungula Bridge and its One Stop Border Post rise as steel and concrete symbols of loyalty, trust, and shared ambition.
More than infrastructure, they stand as monuments to a blossoming relationship between two determined SADC neighbours- Botswana and Zambia- bound by history and united by purpose.
The unmistakable camaraderie between Presidents Advocate Duma Boko and Hakainde Hichilema during the historic launch of the Kazungula Bridge Authority (KBA) spoke volumes.
Their warmth reflected a friendship stretching back decades, rooted in shared democratic values and mutual support since their respective independences in 1966 and 1964.
For these two land-linked neighbours, prospects for development and global competitiveness hinge on one central pillar; regional integration.
It is perhaps no coincidence that Botswana and Zambia have chosen to lead by example, immortalising a route that once played a pivotal role in Southern Africa’s liberation and trade.
Long before the P3 billion engineering marvel now spanning the Zambezi River, this crossing was a lifeline.
Freedom fighters and traders from the Kavango region traversed it in dug-out canoes, decades before a modest pontoon ferry began operating in the mid-1960s.
That old, rusty ferry retired in 2021 carried with it a rich and dramatic history.
During the liberation struggle, it served as a vital artery of movement, drawing suspicion and hostility from the racist regimes of Rhodesia and apartheid South Africa, who believed it was being used to smuggle arms to freedom fighters.
Tensions reached a boiling point on 13th April 1979, when Rhodesian forces attacked and sank the ferry.
A military communiqué issued in Salisbury alleged it had been transporting war materials for the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), the armed wing of Joshua Nkomo’s ZAPU.
Yet in the end, the ferry outlasted bombs and bullets. It did not fall to war, it yielded to progress.
In 2021, it bowed out gracefully to make way for a strategic bridge linking Botswana and Zambia, unlocking new corridors of growth and integration.
The bond between the two nations dates back to the 1960s. Amid skepticism from some of his peers, Zambia’s founding President Dr Kenneth Kaunda extended a hand of solidarity to Botswana’s Sir Seretse Khama, supporting the young nation’s bid to join the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU).
In May 1968, Kaunda became the first foreign Head of State to visit Botswana a milestone in diplomatic relations that cemented a partnership built on mutual respect.
Over the decades, that relationship has only strengthened, most recently with the establishment of the Kazungula Bridge Authority (KBA).
Widely regarded as one of Africa’s most stable bilateral partnerships, Botswana and Zambia have collaborated beyond infrastructure.
Their cooperation extends to health and humanitarian support. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Botswana provided testing services to Zambian communities near the Kazungula border.
In December 2025, Zambia reciprocated by airlifting 20 tonnes of essential medicines, 12 tonnes from government and eight from the private sector to assist Botswana during a critical medical supply shortage.
The shipment supported treatment programmes for HIV, cancer, and diabetes, underscoring a partnership that transcends politics.
What began with modest aviation links in the late 1960s has matured into a robust alliance, now elevated to a Bi-National Commission.
At the launch of the KBA, President Hichilema remarked that the cultural similarities and deep social ties between the two countries make them, in essence, one people separated only by invisible borders drawn during the infamous Berlin Conference of 1884–85.
Shared surnames across both sides of the river point to common ancestry; one extended family living beneath two national flags.
Stretching 923 metres and built at a cost of $259 million, the Kazungula Bridge is far more than a transport corridor.
It preserves historic family ties and the old trade and liberation route while dramatically reducing travel time, stimulating economic growth, and promoting sustainable development across the region.
In President Boko’s words, the bridge is a bold statement against Africa’s resource curse.
It is not infrastructure designed to extract and evacuate wealth from the continent. Rather, it is engineering with intention built to connect, to integrate, to create regional value chains, and to open corridors of opportunity.
Steel and concrete may hold it together, but history, solidarity, and shared vision give it meaning.
The Kazungula Bridge is not merely a crossing over water, it is a bridge over troubled history, uncertainties toward a more integrated African future.
