Idea to address DRC/Zambia border post violence

The creation of a dry port is one of several measures the Zambian government is “seriously considering” to address the ongoing violence at the troubled Kasumbulesa border into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as reported by FTW this week. TradeMark Southern Africa (TMSA) reports the Zambian home affairs minister, Ngosa Simbyakula, as saying: "If security and safety of our drivers can't be guaranteed in DRC, the idea of a dry port in Zambia will be seriously pursued so that trucks transporting goods to the DRC can offload here and allow trucks from that country to pick them up here.” The minister noted this after a visit to the border post where several truck drivers have been killed, adding that truck drivers should be offloading the DRC-bound cargo at the dry port on the Zambian side and later the DRC transporters would ferry the merchandise across. According to the Times of Zambia, Ngosa plans to table the issue of a dry port in Zambia before the SADC Council of Ministers at their next meeting.