
Tanyaradzwa Rusike
FOURTEEN electronic gates (e-gates) that automate immigration processes have been installed at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport as part of the initial rollout of Zimbabwe’s new online border management system (OBMS).
The system is designed to streamline immigration procedures and enhance border security by removing the need for physical human intervention at ports of entry and exit.
The OBMS employs a complex computer platform to automate various aspects of border control, increasing efficiency and reducing processing time.
Zimbabwe’s e-gate system is modelled after Dubai’s pioneering Smart Gates platform, which provides a fast and contactless way for eligible travellers to pass through passport control points at the Dubai International Airport.
The system is expected to significantly reduce congestion at busy border posts and international airports, while also improving efficiency and curbing illegal activities such as human and drug trafficking, as well as money laundering. Travellers using e-passports simply scan their documents and provide facial or fingerprint data, allowing for rapid and contactless entry or exit.
Plans are on course to instal the system at the Victoria Falls International Airport, the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport and the Beitbridge Border Post.
Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Permanent Secretary Ambassador Raphael Faranisi told The Sunday Mail that the system will significantly enhance the efficiency of border posts.
“We have set up 14 lanes so far at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport,” he said.
“We are also going to set up the system at Victoria Falls and Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo international airports, as well as at the Beitbridge Border Post. The system is going to serve the Zimbabwean passport holders at entry and exit points.
“E-gates are automated self-service barriers that authenticate the passport holder’s identity by using data contained in a chip in biometric passports and a photo or fingerprint obtained upon entering the e-gate.”
This process involves comparing a photograph or fingerprint taken at the gate with the biometric data stored in the passport’s chip or immigration database.
If the data matches, the gate opens, allowing the traveller to proceed.
Ambassador Faranisi said the OBMS will also help curb illegal activities at ports of entry and exit.
“E-gates will greatly improve the efficiency of clearing travellers entering and leaving the country,” he continued.
“The congestion which was now the norm at ports like Beitbridge and the international airports will become a thing of the past.
“The e-gates will allow a traveller to enter the country after scanning their passport and capturing biometric data, including taking a picture of the traveller.
“If the traveller has no outstanding offences or crimes, the e-gate will allow the traveller to pass. E-gates, as a component of the online border management system, will reduce cross-border crimes, especially human and drug trafficking, as well as money laundering.”
Zimbabwe has undertaken significant upgrades of its key ports of entry and exit, including the expansion of the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.