Two drivers died in a tanker crash yesterday in the vicinity of the Mokambo border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), highlighting the need for improved driver safety at the Copperbelt’s three border crossings.
According to Mike Fitzmaurice, chief executive of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations, not much is known about the incident, except that it was a head-on collision.
Footage shared by the Transit Assistance Bureau shows one liquid fuels tanker on fire, sending black smoke billowing into the air, with another on its side.
Fitzmaurice said the accident amplified the need for better traffic control at the DRC’s three transits into Zambia – Kasumbalesa, Mokambo and Sakania.
At various intervals, the borders would alternate between north- and southbound traffic in a bid to decongest Kasumbalesa, a routinely problematic and erstwhile primary crossing of the Copperbelt between the DRC and Zambia.
But the volume of minerals exported out of the Congo, a supplier of at least 70% of cobalt used in electronic vehicle batteries (EV), has forced authorities to open all three borders to traffic however transporters see fit.
But the rush to meet demand as EV production continues to increase is placing ever more pressure on road freighters to haul exports out of the Copperbelt fast enough.
On the backhaul, to keep supplies flowing into the Copperbelt, there’s unrelenting pressure on drivers racing against the clock and often losing time at some of the most ineffective border crossings in Africa. Those working on lines into the DRC and Zambia often have to pay the heaviest price for working in a dangerous environment.
