Lusaka, Zambia - The Ministry of Commerce, Trade, and Industry (MCTI) today launched the Zambia Trade Information Portal (ZTIP), which was developed with support from the USAID Southern Africa Trade and Investment Hub. 

A key condition of Zambia’s World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO-TFA), the portal fulfills the government’s requirement to host up-to-date trade-related information—such as permits, forms, border procedures, current fees and charges, and exchange rates—for traders seeking to import to, or export from, Zambia.  The portal aims to expedite compliance of traders with regulatory requirements, while lowering their transaction costs, thereby improving their competitiveness. It will also assist the Zambian government to remain compliant with a key WTO membership obligation.

“In line with the U.S. government initiative, Prosper Africa, these improvements ultimately reduce the time and cost of cross-border trade, which boosts productivity and means more Zambian products—particularly from the agricultural sector—are exported to other countries in Southern Africa and beyond,” said USAID/Zambia Economic Development Office Director Adam Norikane. “With six of the ten fastest-growing economies in the world and over one billion consumers, Africa is poised to play an ever-greater role in the global economy.”

Working in partnership with the MCTI, USAID played a critical role in gathering and ensuring the accuracy of documents that populate the portal.  Through its dedicated country office in Lusaka, the USAID Southern Africa Trade and Investment Hub mobilized a team of international and Zambian experts to ensure that the portal was launched to the public per the terms of Zambia’s WTO-TFA.

For more information about this press release, please contact USAID Zambia Development Outreach and Communications at infozambia@usaid.gov