Officials from the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia have met to discuss the latter’s decision to close its entry points which had left the former in a dire situation of lack of essential products.
Zambia has agreed to reopen its three borders to the DR Congo after a series of meetings between representatives from the two countries on Monday.
Minister of Commerce Julien Paluku led the Congolese delegation that met his Zambian counterpart Chipoka Mulenga and his team in the city of Lubumbashi, Haut-Katanga Province where the latter agreed to re-open its entries.
The two parties agreed to give all goods affected by the initial ban imposed by the Congolese government will be given immediate entry into DRC under a period of 30 days.
During this period, technical teams from both countries will also discuss ways to facilitate the free movement of goods and trade.
DR Congo’s Minister of Commerce Julien Paluku had earlier banned the importation of beverages in a bid to promote local production but caused protests in the country as citizens deemed the decision to have been irrational.
The decision also caused a major crisis due to shortages in essentials as the DR Congo depends largely on products from Zambia.
On Sunday, Zambia opted to close its borders citing security reasons due to the protests in the DR Congo territory before the DR Congo initiated emergency talks amidst an emerging crisis.
