Southern Africa: Five Countries Accelerate Customs Digitalisation to Streamline Trade Corridors

A new step towards smarter logistics corridors in Southern Africa

Southern Africa is taking aim at one of the persistent bottlenecks affecting regional trade: delays at border crossings.

Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe adopted a joint roadmap in Pretoria on 26 August 2026 to strengthen customs-to-customs data exchange and progressively interconnect their customs systems.

The principle is straightforward but strategically significant: making customs information move ahead of the cargo.

The initiative is expected to help customs administrations prepare cargo processing in advance, strengthen risk management and reduce unnecessary interventions when compliant shipments reach border posts.

For shippers, carriers and logistics operators, however, the issue goes far beyond administrative digitalisation. It directly concerns transit-time predictability, logistics costs, working capital requirements and the competitiveness of regional supply chains.

Five customs administrations move towards regional interoperability

Senior customs, legal and information technology officials from Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe met in Pretoria from 24 to 26 August to adopt a roadmap and action plan for the development and deployment of customs-to-customs data exchange, known as C2C.

The initiative was hosted by the South African Revenue Service (SARS), with TradeMark Africa and the participation of the SADC Secretariat.

The objective is to progressively build an architecture through which customs administrations can securely exchange trade information ahead of the physical movement of goods.

This could significantly change the way regional corridors operate.

Instead of waiting for a truck to reach the border before beginning the assessment process, customs authorities can increasingly access the relevant information in advance and prepare their decisions before the cargo arrives.

From the border as a control point to the border as a confirmation point

This represents one of the most important operational shifts behind the initiative.

Beyers Theron, SARS Director of Customs and Excise, has advocated a model increasingly based on assurance, risk management and trade facilitation, rather than relying predominantly on physical intervention.

The underlying objective is to enable compliant cargo to move more efficiently while concentrating enforcement resources on shipments presenting higher risks.

For logistics operators, the potential benefit is therefore measurable in operational terms: fewer hours spent at borders, faster truck turnaround times and better utilisation of transport assets and border infrastructure.

For shippers, predictability is becoming as important as speed

In industrial supply chains, a border delay is not simply the cost of keeping a truck parked.

It can trigger production disruptions, increase inventory requirements, delay deliveries or tie up additional working capital.

Hope Situmbeko, TradeMark Africa’s Regional Director for Southern Africa, highlighted the example of electrical cable manufacturing.

A factory may depend on copper, polymers, specialised additives and machinery sourced from several countries. Each border crossing introduces another potential point of disruption.

The logistics cost of uncertainty

For shippers, the critical question is therefore not only:

How much does transport cost?

It is also:

How much does transport uncertainty cost?

A corridor with unpredictable border processing times forces companies to build additional buffers into their supply chains. These may take the form of higher inventories, longer delivery windows or additional working capital.

Conversely, a more predictable border environment allows manufacturers, distributors and logistics providers to plan their operations with greater precision.

This is where customs digitalisation can generate a genuine competitive advantage.

Smart trade corridors are emerging as the next stage

The five countries are not starting from scratch.

Bilateral customs data exchange links are already operational between Zambia and Malawi, as well as between Zambia and Zimbabwe. These existing connections provide a practical foundation for progressively developing a broader regional architecture.

Implementation is expected to take place in stages, beginning with priority corridors.

This approach has an important operational advantage. Rather than attempting to interconnect every administration simultaneously, governments can initially focus on strategically important corridors, measure results and then expand the system.

From One Stop Border Posts to seamless borders

The long-term ambition goes beyond the traditional One Stop Border Post model.

The objective is to move towards smart corridors, where information travels with the shipment and multiple border agencies can use data that has already been submitted instead of repeatedly requesting the same documentation from carriers and shippers.

For logistics operators, this could translate into fewer redundant documents, shorter waiting times and greater visibility over cargo status.

SADC: a regional logistics issue, not simply a customs project

The regional dimension is critical.

According to figures cited in the source statement, Southern Africa accounted for approximately 41% of intra-African trade in 2023, representing nearly US$192 billion.

At this scale, even relatively modest reductions in trade friction can generate significant effects across regional supply chains.

The issue is particularly strategic for SADC economies, which are connected through extensive road, rail and port corridors.

Ports are major gateways for goods moving towards landlocked economies. As a result, corridor performance cannot be determined solely by road quality, rail capacity or port productivity.

A high-performing port connected to a slow border still produces a weak-performing corridor.

A potential catalyst for AfCFTA and regional value chains

Customs interoperability also fits directly into the broader objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The success of intra-African trade depends on more than gradually reducing tariffs. It also requires lowering the costs and delays associated with the physical movement of goods across borders.

Digital customs procedures, data exchange and harmonised processes are therefore becoming a form of invisible trade infrastructure.

For companies seeking to develop regional value chains, these digital systems can become as strategically important as physical infrastructure.

What C2C could change for corridor stakeholders

For shippers, the main expected benefit is greater transit-time predictability and lower costs associated with cargo and vehicle delays.

For transport operators, shorter border dwell times could improve vehicle utilisation and fleet productivity.

For customs administrations, advance access to trade data can strengthen risk targeting, revenue assurance and anti-smuggling capabilities.

For investors, improved corridor fluidity can increase the attractiveness of logistics platforms, industrial zones, distribution centres and multimodal infrastructure located along major trade routes.

Why this matters for African trade corridors

The strategic issue is not simply to digitise customs. It is to reduce friction across the entire logistics chain.

A data set received before a truck arrives can allow a customs authority to prepare its decision.

A prepared decision can reduce border waiting time.

Shorter waiting times improve vehicle utilisation.

Higher vehicle utilisation can reduce the cost per shipment.

At corridor scale, these gains can improve business competitiveness and strengthen regional market integration.

The next challenge: measuring the actual gains

Adopting the roadmap is an important milestone, but implementation will ultimately determine its value.

The next indicators to monitor should include average customs clearance time, border dwell time, the number of physical inspections, the percentage of shipments processed before arrival, immobilisation costs and the quality and reliability of exchanged data.

These indicators will provide the real test of whether C2C is improving corridor performance.

For Southern Africa, the initiative could therefore become much more than an IT project.

It could become a strategic competitiveness tool for regional trade corridors.

If customs interoperability delivers shorter and more predictable border processing times, the benefits could extend well beyond customs administrations. Manufacturers, shippers, transport operators, logistics investors and regional economies could all benefit from more efficient supply chains.

The next competitive battle for African corridors will not be fought only through kilometres of roads, railway capacity or port infrastructure.

It will also be fought through the ability to move data as quickly as cargo.