President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on October 3, 2023 launched a strategic dry port in southeast Haut-Katanga province. 

The largest of its kind in Central Africa, Sakania dry port on the Zambia-DRC border will connect regional mining towns.

Sakania is a border post with an existing rail link to Livingstone and the Copperbelt Province on the Zambia side. 

The new port, whose construction stood the test of COVID 19, will raise the status of the cross-border town. 

Alexis Muvuni,  the Minister of Infrastructure and Public Works praised the project and dubbed it as important for the region. Regional countries that will benefit from the dry port include Namibia and Botswana, besides Zambia and DRC.

It is Zambia’s traders, however, who will benefit most from quick clearance. Back in 2022 when DRC and Zambia endorsed the Statutory Instrument No.36 trade agreement, Zambia’s truck drivers had to endure logistic difficulties to transport goods to the DRC.

Now, with Sakania dry port, trade and clearance of cargo and passengers will take place efficiently. The facility will also boost income for transportation companies and traders, who have always suffered from insecurity and poor infrastructure. 

Zambia’s exports to the DRC are also likely to grow with this development. In 2021, the DRC was the fourth main export destination for Zambia. The country exported $1.1 billion worth of goods to Congo. Agricultural shipments that topped the list, alongside copper, include flavoured water worth $113 million.

Raw sugar constituted 5.07% of all Zambia’s exports to DRC in 2021, with confectionery claiming the third slot among agricultural goods.

The other key agricultural exports included cereal meal and pellets at 3.03% of all exports while fruit juice shipments represented 1.88%, prepared cereals 1.07% and oilseeds 0.6%.

DRC, on the other hand, enjoys relative trade imbalance with Zambia, as its 2021 exports to Zambia were just $300 million. Zambia was the seventh main international market for DRC’s bilateral trade in that year.

All key exports in 2021 from the DRC to its eastern neighbor were minerals. Copper ore represented 64.1% of all exports. Other minerals included cobalt, zinc powder and refined copper in descending order of size. 

Zambia is an important food ally of the DRC, which relies much on Lusaka for its grain and meat imports. In 2022, the ban on Zambia maize exports hurt DRC whose southern residents consider the imported grain a staple.

With the inauguration of the Sakania dry port, trade relations between the two will stabilize and drive regional economic cooperation. 

The completed project has also opened a “new window” in the Sino-DRC relations as Chinese contractors developed the dry port.