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ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK - Great Lakes Trade Facilitation Project – SOP2 (Zambia): Project ID: No. P155329

The Great Lakes Trade Facilitation Project (GLTFP) concept stems from the linkages of economies eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Rwanda, western Uganda, Tanzania and Northern Zambia that have inextricably linked through cross-border and lake-based trade for centuries. However, the conflicts of recent years have taken a heavy toll on human life and disrupted the regional economy. Border communities often remain in a state of acute socio-economic vulnerability and suffer disproportionately from poverty and displacement. The GLTFP aims at improving economic opportunities through facilitation of cross-border commerce as one of the best ways to promote economic and social interdependence and improve regional stability.

The GLTFP is part of the much broader Great Lakes Initiative (GLI) of the World Bank that aims to promote peace and security in one of the most fragile and conflict affected regions of Africa. Through various projects, the GLI aims to provide access to better health and education services, improve energy and regional transportation infrastructure, and create new economic and trade opportunities required for lasting peace and stability. As part of this initiative, the GLTFP is specifically focused on promoting regional cross-border trade between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and its Great Lakes neighbours that include Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. By targeting small scale traders, the project aims to build new economic linkages that lead to poverty reduction and shared prosperity among some of the most vulnerable groups in the GLR. The GLTFP is being designed in two phases as a series of projects (SOP) with the first in the series (GLTFP1 or SOP1) involving the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in a coordinating capacity. Preparations for the second phase of the project (GLTFP2 or SOP2) are now underway. This phase of the project is expected to cover Zambia, Burundi, DRC, and Tanzania with COMESA again playing a coordinating role like the first project.

In Zambia, the project will be comprised of four components namely; (a) improving core trade infrastructure and facilities in the border areas, (b) implementation of policy and procedural reforms and capacity building to facilitate cross border trade in goods and services, (c) improving service delivery by agencies at the border/port and citizen engagement (d) implementation support, communication, monitoring and evaluation.