About the Congo border issues
By Dr Lubinda Haabazoka
I received a phone call about three weeks ago from a Congolese connect asking why the Zambian government had banned the Congolese from using Zambia as a transit point of their mealie meal imported from South Africa. The gentleman told me that Congolese were not allowed to move mealie that they themselves imported from SA because there were some Zambian entities doing the same.
Well knowing the sensitivity of the issue, I just ignored it and never contacted anyone in Zambia because some fights it’s better to stay away! Then also I had to verify that information with the relevant Zambian authorities which can sometimes prove to be an ungreatful exercise.
Then this week, I just read that the Congolese have also banned Zambian imports and have touched Zambia where it hurts most. The result is what we are seeing now at the borders which has led to the closure of the borders with Congo.
In 2013, I attended a conference at university of Lubumbashi. This was the period when then President Sata had just banned mealie meal exports into Congo. My paper was on economic diversification but when the question segment came, I was hammered from left, right and center on why Zambia was being cruel to Congo by denying them mealie meal. It had to take the Dean of the business school from Belgium to interject that I was not there as a government official but as a researcher to present solely on economic diversification from mining😂. You could see that in the room I could be lynched anytime. The Congolese vowed to build their own farms and told me it was just a matter of time. They have actually made progress. If it’s in the cement industry, they have managed to actually almost replace Zambian cement.
Fast forward, some decisions we make here in Zambia don’t take into consideration their impacts on other countries. Imagine if Namibia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola also banned certain things we consume from moving through their countries. We would either starve or airlift as Kaunda did in the early stages after independence.
At this point am not accusing anyone of anything but as an academician with the little information I get trying to put the little pieces together.
Let’s sit down with Congo and resolve our issues. In fact in the future, we should hold talks with various Katanga regions about how we can plan for the next agricultural season. Congo should be in our food plans. It is what it is. Closing borders will make them find alternatives and in the future, that kasumbalesa that earns us money will be dead! When a neighbour is dependent on you, make them even more dependent by oversupplying them so that they don’t build their own manufacturing base! That’s capitalism guys! Comparative advantage issues!
Then also businessmen in the maize business let’s play fair because it seems you are in a fight with Congolese maize business people and it’s both Zambian and Congolese households and businesses suffering from your unknown greediness.
This is a piece of advise you should take. Don’t react badly. We have investments in Congo like Pedicle road which we depend on. Also we should not make the Congolese population become hostile towards Zambians. Imagine a food shortage in Congo can easily be attributed to our bad behaviour and that will lead to only resentment.
So if it’s true what I have said, allow the Congolese to transit maize or whatever they want through Zambia and let the Congolese also allow Zambia to export whatever we want to Congo. We should also ask the Congolese to provide security to our truck drivers as a condition. It’s unfair that their drivers have it easy in Zambia and our drivers don’t have it easy there!
Talks should begin today. But businessmen should stay away.
Thanks
