Relief as Congo-Rwanda border reopens with extended service hours

Mr Erasto sent out a press release on February 11 informing "the population of North Kivu in general and that of the city of Goma in particular that the Grande Barrière (La Corniche) border post is operational from 6am to 10pm".

The directive ends nearly three years of border closures at 3pm, a decision taken by the DRC authorities as tensions between Kinshasa and Kigali rose.

The new order comes as fighting escalates in North-east and South Kivu, but the M23 governor says the move is intended to allow more trade between the people of the two neighbouring states.

It also comes as the city of Goma appears to be returning to normal.

Rubavu District authorities have already reported that after the M23 group took control of Goma, the number of people crossing the small border post between Rwanda and the DRC has increased significantly from around 15,000 a day before tensions escalated to more than 30,000 at present.

Before the falling-out between Rwanda and the DRC, it was estimated that there were around 50,000 "regular crossings" at Goma-Rubavu, making it one of the busiest borders in Africa.

Businesspeople on both sides trade mainly vegetables, meat and fresh milk.

Since the deterioration in relations, traders on both sides have complained about the impact on cross-border trade, which has been severely curtailed by the reduction in opening hours to just half a day.

It remains to be seen how long this normalisation will last, especially as the authorities in Kinshasa are also reorganising the governance of North Kivu province.

President Félix Tshisekedi has appointed a military governor for North Kivu, part of which is still controlled by the Congolese army.

Major-General Evariste Kakule Somo has been appointed to replace Major-General Peter Cirimwami, who was killed on the front line in confrontations with rebels on January 23.

Major-General Kakule has taken up residence in Beni, where he intends to reorganise the recapture of areas that have fallen under the control of the M23.

In this volatile situation, the market and the prices of basic food items are unstable, especially in Goma, where supply routes remain disrupted and the airport is still closed.

Insecurity is an obstacle to regional integration.

Rwanda and the DRC are members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and the East African Community (EAC).

Willard Mwemba, CEO of the Comesa Competition Commission, said trade restrictions exacerbate poverty, famine and even crime.

"When borders are opened, it encourages producers to produce more, knowing that they will have a bigger market and consumers will benefit because they will have more products at good prices," he told The EastAfrican in a recent interview.