The abrupt termination of the visa-free agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zimbabwe has imposed significant financial and operational challenges on cross-border hauliers serving Haut-Katanga Province’s mining sector.
Over the past two weeks, transport companies were informed that Zimbabwean truck drivers must now obtain work visas to operate legally within the DRC.
Implemented without prior notice by the DRC’s Direction Générale de Migration (DGM), the new policy requires drivers to pay a $50 fee for a 30-day visa.
Previously, a bilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) had exempted Zimbabwean drivers from visa requirements, making them indispensable to companies transporting goods in and out of the DRC’s mineral-rich regions.
The sudden cancellation of the MoU caught industry stakeholders by surprise. According to a spokesperson for the regional road freight industry’s Transit Assistance Bureau (Transist), the policy shift was made without consultation or warning.
Adding to the disruption, the visa fee must be paid in cash with no receipts issued, complicating compliance with foreign exchange regulations and making proper financial record-keeping nearly impossible.
The new visa rules further worsen long-standing challenges faced by truck drivers. Given the chronic delays at border crossings, particularly at the congested Kasumbalesa Border Post where outdated cargo scanning equipment causes significant bottlenecks, drivers risk overstaying their visas before completing their journeys.
Those returning to Zimbabwe with expired visas face an additional $50 penalty, escalating operational costs.
According to Freight News, Transist has attempted to engage DRC immigration authorities on the matter but has so far met with no success.
The elimination of the MoU has severely disrupted logistics operations for large transport fleets that rely on efficient border crossings to meet the needs of Copperbelt mining clients.
“Consider a fleet of 100 trucks, where each driver is suddenly required to pay $50 for every crossing,” the Transist spokesperson remarked. “The financial burden is substantial.”
This added cost compounds existing frustrations. Kasumbalesa’s outdated cargo scanner, reportedly decades old, causes delays not due to mechanical failure but because of administrative inefficiencies—sometimes taking up to two days to verify cargo images.
Now, with new visa requirements layered onto these inefficiencies, hauliers face even steeper challenges in keeping supply chains moving efficiently across the region.
