Zambia’s border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been reopened following last week’s suspension of Customs services which contributed to severe congestion at key crossings like Kasumbalesa into the DRC and which also affected south-bound freight at Chirundu into Zimbabwe. The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) suspended services because of a rise in transit fraud on goods particularly destined to the DRC had raised concern. In a notice sent out to “all officers”, the ZRA identified fuel and cooking oil as primary goods involved in fraudulent cross-border freight. “The scourge has led to a large potential loss of government revenue which is impeding the progress in meeting the revenue targets, considering that slowed economic activity in the country,” a ZRA statement said. Mike Fitzmaurice, CEO of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta), confirmed to FTW earlier this week that the ZRA had lifted its northern border ban. He said trucks queued for 15 kilometres or more on either side of Zambia’s northern and southern borders, while another source said that Kasumbulesa was “quick to open but Chirundu took a day longer”. Fitzmaurice said containers and breakbulk cargo were beginning to move through from Friday while “suspension of fuel tankers remained in place until Saturday morning when all traffic started moving again”. But although freight is flowing freely through the notoriously beleaguered borders where Customs delays and corruptionrelated holdups are the norm, private sector interests are pointing fingers at authorities. The border ban, a reliable and regular FTW source said, had really resulted from a failure of systems and services in Zambia. “The ZRA”, he said, “had lost control of the transits and goods that were being declared in transit yet offloaded in Zambia.” A main reason for this, he added, was because “the ZRA is understaffed”. Meanwhile the source, who transports liquid bulk into the DRC, said empty fuel tankers were again using the infamous Mokambo Road in an attempt to avoid congestion regularly experienced at Kasumbalesa. But the road that leads to the border post at Mokambo is a dirt track of at least 90 kilometres that disintegrates when the rainy season starts. And with storm clouds gathering, transporters fear that transit between the DRC and Zambia is about to get worse – as it did last year when trucks queued for weeks on either side to get through Kasumbalesa. Last week’s congestion also raised the spectre of freight delays rippling across the region if countries don’t collaborate around Customs harmonisation. Referring to the bridge that’s being built at Kazungula between Zambia and its border with Botswana, a necessary link to open up freight further west to Namibia and its ports, the source said Zambia held the keys to unlocking potential. “It’s no good Namibia sorts its logistics out if you cannot cross Zambia. All goods to the DRC have to cross Zambia so it’s a key link in the supply chain.” In the meantime the Kazungula Bridge is proceeding at a snail’s pace. It was initially intended to open late in 2020, but Fitzmaurice said he had heard it was “scheduled for opening in the second half of 2021”. A request for clearer information from Botswana’s roads ministry was unsuccessful and when the Kazungula project manager, Pius Seone, was asked for help he referred FTW back to the ministry. “Just do as advised. You will get the proper details from there.” In the meantime Fesarta is pulling out all the stops to establish a “green flow” of traffic throughout the region by entering into negotiations with the likes of the ZRA and peer revenue collectors. Transporters experiencing any hassles, Fitzmaurice said, should turn to Transist, the transit assistance bureau that Fesarta recently launched.
INSERT: It’s no good Namibia sorts its logistics out if you cannot cross Zambia. – Mike Fitzmaurice