Member States of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) that are affected by the persistent problems encountered at the Kasumbalesa border posts between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, met in Harare, Zimbabwe, from 4-7 February 2025, to discuss possible solutions to the congestion, trade facilitation-related, infrastructure and increasing insecurity challenges, particularly for truck drivers and the entire trading community.
The meeting, facilitated by the SADC Secretariat, with financial support by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), brought together public and private sector stakeholders from 10 affected Member States namely Angola, Botswana, DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and representatives from the Secretariat of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
The meeting allowed affected Member States to comment on the Framework of Collaboration and Action Plan agreed upon by the DRC and Zambia on 9 May 2024, in Kinshasa, DRC, and to kick off preparations for a SADC Inter-Ministerial Task Force meeting of Ministers responsible for Trade, Transport, Security, Immigration, and Infrastructure, as mandated by the Council of Ministers and 44th SADC Summit in August 2024.
The participants recognised that the problems at the Kasumbalesa border posts are intertwined and have a domino effect affecting the efficiency of the entire North-South and other strategic corridors. The meeting recommended a corridor-wide approach to infrastructure development and trade facilitation to address emerging challenges along the entire North-South corridor. A Corridor-Wide approach hinges on the pillars of customs and trade facilitation, transport and trade-related infrastructure, security, and immigration. The meeting further recommended an action matrix whose main recommendations will ensure trade facilitation along the North-South Corridors.
Following this, the Ministerial Task Force meeting of Ministers responsible for Trade, Transport, Security, Immigration, and Infrastructure is scheduled to be held in April 2025.
Kasumbalesa, the borders post between the DRC and Zambia, is an important border crossing at which several regional trade corridors converge, including the North-South Corridors, Central Development Corridor (Dar es Salaam), Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Corridor, Beira Development Corridor, and the Lobito Development Corridors.
The border posts are characterised by persistent challenges, including inadequate infrastructure on both sides of the border post; recurring congestion and very long traffic queues; informal cross-border trading and inadequate sanitary and health facilities. This includes fear of animal and human cross-border transmission of diseases, poor surveillance, poor adherence to veterinary requirements, and fear of cross-border transmission of pests); security problems for truck drivers and traders, especially at night; non-reciprocal visa fees and non-harmonised procedures for commercial truck drivers in the region; iineffective coordination on the implementation of border formalities and procedures between DRC and Zambia; and inefficient “exit and entry formalities” for thousands of border communities and small-scale cross-border traders who cross the border every day.
