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Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique (ZMM) have agreed to establish a growth triangle
— a transnational economic zone designed to enhance trade and private investment
in the three countries. Government representatives met in Lilongwe, Malawi,
recently to sign a Letter of Intent.
(See on the same subject ANB-BIA, 15
May 2001, n. 390, pg II)
The ZMM Growth Triangle (ZMM-GT), the first of its kind in Africa, is an initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Its establishment follows on the success of a similar concept in south east-Asia and the Pacific region. The ZMM-GT covers a vast area of some 294,184 sq. km, with a population in excess of eight million consumers. The Triangle spans from Mpulungu, Zambia’s northern port town on Lake Tanganyika near the border with Tanzania, to Mozambique’s port city of Beira on the Indian Ocean. In between, the area covers Nakonde, Chipata, Chama and Lundazi districts (Zambia), the districts of Chitipa, Karonga, Rumphi, Nkhata Bay and Mzimba (Malawi) and much of western Mozambique.
Although the present proposed area — a result of pre-feasibility studies — is open to further refinement, the Growth Triangle (ZMM-GT) encompasses a ground of common culture, traditions, language, trade and commerce, socio-economic factors crucial to the success of the initiative. The UNDP would like the concept to be private sector-driven, with chambers of commerce working with their respective governments, to design and implement policy and institutional reforms for the attainment of faster and deeper integration of the economies of the three countries.
In particular, governments are expected to remove rigid colonial era immigration rules, supply the basics of doing business, liberalise cross-border trade and efficiently issue trade licences.
Sectors of exploitation
All three governments have now confirmed their political commitment towards the ZMM-GT, while international financing institutions have pledged funding to viable projects in the area. Although a Memorandum of Understanding should have been signed at the Lilongwe meeting, it was agreed that this be suspended until the conclusion of a legal analysis of the initiative by a committee of experts.
Sectors of exploitation include agriculture and agro-based processing, tourism, international telecommunications, transport and communication and entrepreneurial development. The latter involves supporting young rural entrepreneurs by cultivating a sustainable use of local resources through the use of production models incorporating recycling.
A proposed mechanism of enhancing development in the zone, is the promotion of resource-sharing meant to exploit differences in production materials of the participating countries for mutual benefit. Malawi’s shortage of land could, for example, be addressed by locating some agro-based joint ventures in Mozambique and Zambia, abundant in under-utilised land. The Cabora-Bassa Dam could sufficiently supply power to deficient areas in Zambia and Malawi, to support agricultural and industrial development.
An urgent need is the development of the transport and communication facilities in the three countries — a task that will require the active cooperation of the private sector. These include the Mchinji (Malawi)- Chipata (Zambia) railway whose construction has long stalled due to inadequate funds, and the Nacala-Beira transport corridors destroyed during Mozambique’s civil war. These are crucial for the transportation of raw materials and finished products within the ZMM-GT, whose benefits are expected to spill over to the Great Lakes region.
And in order to improve access to efficient communication services, it has been proposed that tele-centres be established in the ZMM-GT areas, run by chambers of commerce, as presently taking place in Zambia’s Chipata district.
Such infrastructure improvements would accelerate trade and open inaccessible productive areas to development, consequently creating jobs and wealth for the local people.
The ZMM-GT represents the local translation of the objectives of the envisaged Africa Economic Community, which encourages the establishment of regional-based development building blocks. It is also an attempt by the UNDP to encourage the development of rural areas through local private business organisations, with the governments only playing a supportive role.
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