Border bedlam returns to Kasumbalesa

The copper belt crossing of Kasumbalesa between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia remains in a state of border bedlam as congestion and criminality reign supreme. Last year construction work at Whiskey Check Point north of the town led DRC authorities to limit the daily number of trucks allowed to enter the country from 500 to 200. It caused a massive back-up south into Zambia running all the way to Chingola on
the highway north-west from Kitwe – and although recent accounts speak of intermittent improvement, the crucial crossing remains one of the most congested border posts in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). A haulier of liquid bulk into the DRC whose name is known to FTW said last week that delays at Chasubles customs control in Kasumbulesa were causing a queue stretching “approximately 30 kilometres past Chililabombwe”, the last Zambian town before trucks proceed north to the border.
When the congestion was at its peak towards the end of last year, the same source said that the backup into Zambia had caused a humanitarian issue as truckers were parking in areas along the road where there was no food, facilities or other services. A representative working for navigation company Tracks 4 Africa in Chililabombwe said at the time that the town’s main road was a “no-go zone for local traffic as the entire road north and south is clogged up with trucks”. To make matters worse, DRC troops were accused of
robbing drivers at gun point of dollars intended to pay for border duties and other transport costs. Reflecting on the latest state of affairs, the liquid bulk haulier said “the security situation is quite bad and drivers are preferring to drive at night and park during the day. A lot of vandalism, theft and general mischief remain a problem”. Road freight manager at neutral consolidator CFR Freight, Hilton Tait, has since confirmed that the stretch of around 150 km between Kitwe and Lubumbashi north-west of Kasumbulesa can take as long as five days. Commenting on the north-south LCL service they launched with a joint venture (JV) partner in October last year, Tait said “January was a nightmare and there’s been a slight improvement since then”. And yet, despite the requisite renegotiation of transport rates brought on by delays at Kasumbulesa, the service is doing “reasonably well". “It has introduced something into the market that previously wasn’t there,” Tait said, a sentiment that confirms the liquid bulk source’s version of the DRC being “a detestable” but “only area to do business for some transporters”. In a breakdown of comparative duty charges, he showed that the average rate charged for freight going through borders en-route to Kasumbalesa was around 0.25 USD. At Chasubles it spikes to $4.97. Thankfully the likes of Comesa (Common Market for East and Southern Africa) and Fesarta (Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations)
as well as SADC officials are “re-establishing contact with the authorities in an effort to pick up where they left off because the delays and costs running through Kasumbalesa are ridiculous”. In the meantime an operations manager from a logistics company who also asked that his name be withheld for safety reasons said congestion at the border had improved as it now only took three to 10 days to get a truck through. When congestion at Kasumbulesa peaks, “it can take up to two weeks”. In addition to current pressures at the crossing, he shared an official notification from the DRC vice-consul in Zambia, Nkulu Ndala Ghislain, that truck drivers travelling to the copperbelt would henceforth have to obtain their visas in Ndola, south-east of Kitwe. Fears that it could cause even more delays are now forcing hauliers to reconsider alternative borders posts such as Makombo and Kipushi, respectively to the east and north-west of Kasumbalesa. But the dirt roads serving these posts are “almost nonexistent and in the rainy season are virtually impassable”.