IN many respects, yesterday's conference, which involved three regions, is historic in many ways in that it was specifically called to look at infrastructure development in the region.

It is also historic in the sense that it is a practical example of cooperation among African leaders from different regions meeting to build on what had in the past been given little attention.

It is a mark of realisation that no single country can develop infrastructure on its own and making use of the leverage or power of negotiating for aid as a group rather than as a single nation.

There are examples of infrastructure that have been built jointly such the Tazara railway which links Zambia and Tanzania, or the Katima Mulilo bridge, which links Zambia and Namibia.

There are many other projects across the three regions.

The other important point is that it bridges the gap or differences between regional groupings such as what has sometimes been going on between Comesa and SADC.

At times, member countries have to choose on which regional grouping to belong to, but yesterday's meeting showed that it is possible to overcome geographical positions for a common purpose.

In fact, the meeting should cement the already existing trade relationship that is already going on between the business people, which includes those at the lowest rung of the trade who are commonly known as cross-border traders.

Now what is also critical is that the regional bodies should now start tackling trade barriers, which sometimes tend to hinder intra-regional trade.

The meeting has shown that with political will from the leaders, it is possible to overcome some of the barriers such as tariffs and non-tariff ones.

Issues such as free movement of people across the borders should also be addressed, but this not to say that security must be compromised.

For now, everyone is looking to the next stage of this meeting, which is implementing some of the projects in the energy, telecoms, road and railway sectors.

From the pledges made so far, it is not far-fetched to conclude that cooperating partners have warmed up to the idea, but it is also important to tap the internal financial, human, physical and other resources that lie within the regions.