A truck waiting at the border can tie up cash long after it clears customs. An importer may have paid its supplier before the goods reach the warehouse. A manufacturer may have to reschedule a production run because a component is still in transit. If an exporter invoices on delivery, the same delay can push back the start of the customer’s payment term.
Two crossings show why averages need context
Zimbabwe’s National Competitiveness Commission reported an average of 21 hours to complete border crossing formalities at Beitbridge, between Zimbabwe and South Africa, and 15 hours at Chirundu, between Zimbabwe and Zambia, in its 2025 study. At Chirundu, customs clearance and vehicle queuing together accounted for more than four-fifths of the measured crossing time. Those are study averages for the crossings observed. Use your own shipment records to estimate the risk for a particular route, direction and cargo.
A separate World Bank case study described how Chirundu’s one-stop model used a common control zone, redesigned workflows and introduced pre-clearance capability. Read alongside the more recent study, it shows why process improvements can help and why operators still need to identify which stage is holding up their own shipments. The studies cover different periods and their timings should not be read as a like-for-like trend.
Zimbabwe National Competitiveness Commission border study • World Bank case study on Chirundu
Put the delay into the cash forecast
Separate charges triggered by the delay from cash tied up in transit. Waiting charges, storage, expedited replacement freight and overtime can create direct costs. Inventory still in transit can lengthen the time between paying suppliers and collecting from customers. Estimate financing cost by multiplying the cash tied up by the annual funding rate and the share of the year represented by the extra days. If you already include financing in your inventory carrying rate, avoid counting it twice.
Follow one shipment through the business
Consider a Zimbabwean distributor importing stock through Beitbridge. Its supplier has already been paid, and a customer’s payment term begins on delivery. When the truck arrives late, finance moves the expected receipt in the cash forecast. Operations checks whether the carrier’s contract triggers a waiting charge, and sales confirms whether the customer can accept a partial delivery from stock already on hand.
If the customer cancels an order, estimate the contribution lost after allowing for costs the company avoids. If the order still goes ahead, track the deferred cash receipt and any extra delivery costs. That distinction helps management decide whether holding more stock, improving clearance preparation or changing the route would actually pay off.
Measure the delays that disrupt commitments
Track median and 90th-percentile crossing times by border, direction and cargo category. The median helps set the normal schedule. The 90th percentile shows how long a slower crossing can take and gives planning teams a basis for testing delivery promises. Keep timestamps for arrival, document submission, clearance and release so the team can separate queuing from paperwork or inspection delays.
Pair those times with waiting charges, days between supplier payment and customer collection, and orders delivered on time and in full. Ask finance, logistics and sales to use the same shipment record when they review exceptions. A recurring paperwork problem calls for a different response from a route that routinely misses delivery windows despite complete documents.
If border delays are stretching your cash cycle or disrupting deliveries, enquire with M&J Consultants for a tailored quote to review your shipment records and identify where better controls could protect cash and customer commitments.
