The launch of the Transport Registers and Information Platform System and the Corridor Trip Monitoring System took place yesterday in Windhoek.
Namibia is providing facilities for hosting the TRIPS and CTMS on behalf of the tripartite regional economic communities to facilitate intra-regional trade and cross-border transport and transit. The tripartite is made up of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
TRIPS is an information communication technology (ICT) gateway or switch that inter-connects national transport information systems in order to improve information-sharing and authentication of transit documents, licences, permits and vehicle and driver particulars between and among the 25 participating member states’ regulatory and law enforcement agents within the tripartite region.
TRIPS and CTMS are being implemented by COMESA, EAC and SADC through the Tripartite Transport and Transit Facilitation Programme (TTTFP) funded by the European Union to the tune of 18 million Euros, as well as the pilot implementation of CTMS co-funded by the EU and the German government.
The overall objective of the TTTFP is to facilitate the development of a more competitive, integrated, and liberalised regional road transport market in the Tripartite Region to support the implementation of the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. The CTMS facilitates the transit of essential goods that include food, fuel and medicines across borders in the tripartite region. Four SADC member states, namely Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe have participated in the CTMS pilot implemented on sections of the Trans Kalahari, Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi and North-South Corridors. CTMS is currently being rolled out to other member states, including Malawi and Mozambique. Soon, CTMS will be developed further to interface with other systems beyond transport and public health such as immigration and customs as part of the digitisation of trade, commerce, and transport transactions, regulations and law enforcement.