Developments in Paperless Trade: Implications for Zambia’s Small-Scale Cross-Border Traders

This policy brief examines the impact of the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and the transition to paperless trade on small-scale cross-border agricultural traders in Zambia. It highlights how digital requirements and language barriers create 'SPS-Plus' burdens for SMEs with low literacy levels, and recommends the adoption of a centralized single window system alongside targeted digital skills training and local language translations of regulatory information.

• The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) promotes the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to create paperless trade, but for small-scale agricultural traders in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), this creates 'SPS-Plus' provisions. These are additional responsibilities beyond the SPS Agreement that are difficult for traders to meet due to language barriers—as requirements are typically in English—and a lack of digital skills.
• Small-scale cross-border agricultural trade is vital to Zambia, with the agricultural sector representing 86% of the country's exports by value and serving as the primary employment source. Significant informal trade occurs at borders such as Mwami–Mchinji (with Malawi), Chirundu (with Zimbabwe), and Tunduma–Nakonde (with Tanzania).
• SMEs face significant hurdles in accessing sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) information, leading to reliance on brokers and delays caused by manual certification. Research at the Malaba–Busia (Kenya–Uganda) and Mchinji–Mwami (Malawi–Zambia) border posts showed that many SMEs were unaware of import/export requirements despite some information being available on government websites.
• Zambia's current digital trade tools, such as its trade information portal, may unintentionally exclude illiterate traders because they lack functions for home languages. The author argues for a 'single window' system—a facility for lodging standardized information at a single entry point—to simplify flows. Zambia's electronic single window system has a completion deadline of 31 December 2030.
• Low literacy and numeracy levels in Zambia hinder the adoption of automated trading systems. Data from 2014 indicates that only 1% of Grade 2 or 3 learners reached minimum reading proficiency and 9% reached minimum mathematics proficiency. Furthermore, only 10% of the population aged 25 to 54 had tertiary education as of 2017.
• To support SMEs, the Zambian government should use funds from the Universal Service and Access Fund to develop curricula and improve digital literacy. The brief suggests translating trade regulations into local languages using AI-powered translation services, citing examples from Rwanda and Uganda where standards were simplified or translated into local languages like Kiswahili.

APA

Thopacu, H. (2021). Developments in Paperless Trade: Implications for Zambia’s Small-Scale Cross-Border Traders. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Policy-Insights-107-thopacu.pdf

Chicago

Thopacu, Hilda. Developments in Paperless Trade: Implications for Zambia’s Small-Scale Cross-Border Traders. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2021. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Policy-Insights-107-thopacu.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Thopacu |first1=Hilda |title=Developments in Paperless Trade: Implications for Zambia’s Small-Scale Cross-Border Traders |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=May 2021 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Policy-Insights-107-thopacu.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{thopacu2021developments, author = {Thopacu, Hilda}, title = {{Developments in Paperless Trade: Implications for Zambia’s Small-Scale Cross-Border Traders}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2021}, month = may, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Policy-Insights-107-thopacu.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }