Business hurt by Congo conflict

Trade between land-locked Zambia and its neighbours has been hit hard by the Great Lakes conflict, local business leaders told IRIN on Wednesday. The war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has destabalised the local economy along the border - previously a captive market for Zambian business, much of it unofficial - and forced some 28,000 DRC refugees to flee into Zambia. "There has been a significant impact, particularly in the Copperbelt area," Economics Association of Zambia Chairman Moses Banda told IRIN. "Food and provisions used to be exported to the DRC, but we are unable to do that now." A number of cross border investment projects have also been shelved. Banda added that freight haulage from South Africa to the DRC, which passes through Zambia, has "slowed down". But according to another local businessman, "the economy had difficulties before the DRC problem arose." He pointed out that regional sanctions imposed on Burundi, and instability in Rwanda, had impacted on cross-border trade across Lake Tanganyika. "Business came to a halt for two years or so," he said. Meanwhile, UNHCR told IRIN on Wednesday that it was preparing for a possible influx of fresh DRC refugees into Zambia's northwestern Chiengi area should fighting around the DRC town of Pweto intensify.