Beer ban sparks Zambia, Congo border feud choking copper exports

Zambia’s trade minister will meet with counterparts in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday to resolve a trade spat that led to the weekend closure of their border, delaying exports from the world’s second-biggest copper producer.

Chipoka Mulenga, Zambia’s Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, said he will meet senior Congolese officials in Lubumbashi, a city just north of the border that the two nations share. They’ll discuss a ban on Zambian beer, soft drink and lime imports that Congo imposed nearly two weeks ago, and border crossings could resume within hours if the two governments are able to reach an agreement, he said.

Almost all of Congo’s copper production, which exceeded 2.8 million tons last year, typically travels by road through Zambia to regional ports from Tanzania to South Africa and Namibia. The journey can take more than a month, and the queue of lorries waiting at the main Kasumbalesa border crossing between Zambia and Congo at times stretches for more than 30 miles (48 kilometers).

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Zambia closed the border to ensure the safety of truck drivers, according to Mulenga, after protests flared in Congo in response to that government’s ban on beverage imports, as well as lime that’s used in copper processing, after it started producing its own, he said.

“It wasn’t about trade, but safety,” Mulenga said of the closure that the government announced Saturday. “Trucks were being damaged, drivers were being beaten.”

Tensions at the crossing have halted traffic before in recent years. Drivers complain of frequent harassment from corrupt officials on the Congolese side, as well as a lack of safety. Lorry operators protested at Kasumbalesa border at the end of September 2022, blocking traffic for days, until senior government officials from each country intervened.