Zambezi Region with the United Kingdom. Leo von Caprivi arranged for the Caprivi strip to be annexed to German South West Africa in order to give Germany access to the Zambezi River as part of the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty. The German motivation behind the swap was to acquire a strip of land linking German South West Africa with the Zambezi River, providing easy access to Tanganyika (Tanzania) and an outlet to the Indian Ocean. Unfortunately for the Germans, the British colonisation of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe and Zambia) stopped them well upstream of Victoria Falls, which proved a considerable barrier to navigation on the Zambezi.
Zambezi River Authority on the Zambezi water by nations bordering the river were settled by the 1995 Southern African Development Community (SADC) protocol on shared watercourse systems and establishment of the Zambezi River Authority. However, the commitment of member governments to honor the agreement seems weak and may not stand up to the pressures of climate change. Citations Sources Zambezi River Authority The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) is a corporation jointly and equally owned by the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is a governed by a four-person council consisting of the Ministers of Energy and Finance of each country. Its primary function