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Zambia was yesterday set to reopen border crossings with Democratic Republic of Congo, the state broadcaster reported, after tensions led to a blockade of exports from the world’s second-biggest copper producer at the weekend.
The two governments signed a communique that will allow for Zambian products to enter Congo without restrictions, ZNBC reported late Monday, citing Chipoka Mulenga, Zambia’s minister of commerce, trade and industry. Congo had last month banned the import of beer, soft drinks and lime, leading to protests that prompted Zambia to seal the border posts.
Mulenga earlier on Monday met with his counterpart in the Democratic Republic of Congo to resolve the spat that led to the closure.
Almost all of Congo’s copper production, which exceeded 2.8 million tonnes last year, typically travels by road through Zambia to regional ports from Tanzania to South Africa and Namibia. The journey can take more than a month, and the queue of lorries waiting at the main Kasumbalesa border crossing between Zambia and Congo at times stretches for more than 48 kilometres.
Zambia closed the border to ensure the safety of truck drivers after protests flared in Congo in response to that government’s ban on beverage imports and lime that’s used in copper processing, after it started producing its own, Mulenga said.
“It wasn’t about trade, but safety,” Mulenga said earlier on Monday of the closure that the government announced Saturday. “Trucks were being damaged, drivers were being beaten.”
The disruption posed a severe threat to jobs, the Zambia Association of Manufacturers said in a statement on Monday. The lobby group was deeply concerned with Congo’s unilateral decision to impose a 12-month ban on imports of the products, it said. – Bloomberg
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