The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat has convened a joint consultative workshop focused on transforming regional border posts into tourist-friendly entry points and enhancing customer service standards for border officials across the bloc.
The initiative, supported by the Joint Action NaturAfrica/Climate Resilience and Natural Resource Management Programme, a collaborative effort funded by the European Union and Germany’s GIZ, aims to streamline travel across Southern Africa and drive sustainable tourism growth under the SADC Tourism Programme 2020–2030.
Border personnel serve as the primary point of contact for international visitors. Recognising their critical role in shaping a destination’s first impression, the workshop brought together key regional stakeholders and immigration officers to address travel bottlenecks, improve cross-border facilitation, and build stronger customer service frameworks at high-traffic entry points.
Improving border access and reducing processing delays are seen as vital steps toward establishing Southern Africa as a seamless, single-destination market, boosting regional connectivity and supporting local tourism-dependent economies.
–ChannelAfrica/SADC–
