Building the Future of Africa through Sustainable Border Management Systems:A Case of Southern African States

Effective border security is an essential part of socio-economic development in Africa and beyond as well as tool for combating transnational crime. Employing a range of tools and services which can help member countries to enhance their own border-security procedures and to integrate their efforts with those of their neighbours is no longer a luxury. The presence of INTERPOL is not sufficient measure to deal with promoting effective border management. The level of chaos and misdemeanour taking place at most borders of developing countries is indeed a cause for concern for all of us. I want to assume at this juncture that border control tradition is no longer viable and that border management should focus beyond the physical borders of member states. The purpose of this paper is to interrogate present practices of border Management as reflected in Southern Africa culture of border control systems. A phenomenological study design will be employed with the study focusing on the border management systems used in Southern Africa. The current experiences and systems will be interrogated in order to get an informed position on how best practices can be attained. System interrogation will take place through reviewing related literature, media reports, observations and in-depth interviews of key actors and non-actors in border management. The results of this study will assist in the formulation of recommendations that practically hinges on assisting policy makers to create dynamic border management models designed to achieve sustainable socio-economic development.