LUBUMBASHI – The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia on Tuesday announced the reopening of a border post that had been closed after a trade dispute between the two African nations.

On Sunday, Zambia closed a crossing along the south-eastern border of DRC following a decision by the Congolese authorities to ban the importation of fizzy drinks and beer into the country.

“The border has already been reopened, and everything is running normally,” the permanent secretary at the Zambian ministry of commerce and industry, Lillian Bwalya, told AFP.

The import ban by Congolese authorities aimed to promote local production of the goods.

But it was strongly contested by truckers in the town of Kasumbalesa, where the border had been closed. Kasumbalesa is a crossing point for trucks exporting Congolese minerals of copper and cobalt to the ports of Tanzania and South Africa, and the city is largely dependent on products coming in from Zambia.

On Monday, a meeting between the foreign trade ministers of the countries took place in Lubumbashi near the border with Zambia to discuss this issue, according to the joint statement.

Kinshasa committed to authorising the entry of the banned goods into DRC for 30 days. -Nampa/AFP