LUSAKA (Reuters) – Zambia reopened its Nakonde border with Tanzania on Friday after a five-day closure of the key transit point for copper and cobalt exports and fuel imports, three sources told Reuters.
President Edgar Lungu had shut the border on Sunday after the town of Nakonde recorded 76 cases of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, the highest number registered by Africa’s No. 2 copper producer in a day.
“We have trucks that have already crossed,” a logistics official said, adding that they had not yet seen an official confirmation from the provincial government. Muchinga Province Minister Malozo Sichone did not immediately reply to Reuters’ requests for comment.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula in Lusaka and Helen Reid in Johannesburg; Editing by Alex Richardson)
