In 2017, neighbouring countries the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia signed a bilateral trade agreement, paving the way for the formation of a joint border post committee tasked with the establishment of a One-Stop-Border-Post (OSBP) at Kasumbalesa. An OSBP is a port of entry in which two neighbouring governments voluntarily agree on a decision to co-locate their port of entry operations at a common end-to-end land border crossing. It is at this border in Africa where five main ports dovetail: one from East Africa (Port of Mombasa), and four from the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)  (Walvis Bay, Beira, Dar es Salaam and Durban). Kasumbalesa.

This Trade Brief discusses some of the main obstacles that have become perennially synonymous with the extended border delays at Kasumbalesa – one of the major and busiest OSBPs in Africa –  and the trade facilitation challenges  confronted daily by transporters, commercial goods, traders and people. Despite all of these, which are conspicuous and inherent at Kasumbalesa, users of this OSBP need to remain optimistic about the future.

Readers are encouraged to quote and reproduce this material for educational, non-profit purposes, provided the source is acknowledged. All views and opinions expressed remain solely those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of tralac.