Nakonde border post (Nakonde and Tunduma)

Where Nakonde is and what crosses it

The crossing joins Nakonde in Muchinga Province, Zambia, with Tunduma in Songwe Region, Tanzania ¹. It sits on the Tanzam Highway. The TAZARA railway serves the same route ¹. Tanzania is one hour ahead of Zambia ¹.

The WFP Logistics Cluster calls Nakonde a high-volume crossing on the North-South transport corridor. Goods include copper, fuel, fertilizer, food and minerals ¹. Lusaka is 1,036 km away and Dar es Salaam port is 930 km away, more than 24 hours by truck in each case ¹.

Hours, agencies and facilities

The WFP profile lists the post as open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including national holidays ¹. ZRA is named as the managing agency on the Zambian side. The profile gives Immigration numbers +260 211 252622 and +260 211 252631 ¹.

Facilities listed by WFP include fuel stations, a weigh-in-motion weighbridge in Nakonde, money changers on both sides, compulsory third-party insurance at the border and electronic seals for transit cargo ¹. The profile says work to install X-ray cargo scanners is often under way. It does not confirm that scanners are running ¹.

Traffic and congestion

WFP gives two figures for daily volume. One section says 500 to 800 trucks are cleared a day. Another gives an average of 800 trucks ¹. A Daily News report of October 2019 said over 600 vehicles crossed daily ⁴.

Queues can pass 7 km, according to WFP. Delays run from about 45 minutes to several hours, and cargo can wait days ¹. Congestion rises in the fertilizer import and crop export seasons. WFP noted that as of November 2025 a backlog from earlier disruptions was clearing and traffic was resuming ¹.

How the one-stop border post came about

Officials of both countries signed the operating agreement for the Tunduma and Nakonde OSBP in Vwawa, Tanzania. Operations were set to start on 1 February 2017, as reported by News Ghana ³. The Zambian signatory was Kayula Siame, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry ³.

In August 2017 Commerce Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe said the OSBP was in a pilot phase. Zambia had built its border infrastructure and handed the building to ZRA in 2016, as reported by Mwape Mwenya of the Zambia Daily Mail ². Seven technical and steering committees were set up, and a simplified trade regime threshold of US$2,000 was approved for small cross-border traders ².

The joint facility was launched by Tanzanian President John Magufuli and Zambian President Edgar Lungu, as reported by the Daily News on 7 October 2019 ⁴. The report put the cost at US$7.8 million, about TSh 18 billion, with construction overseen by Tanzania's Ministry of Finance and Planning through the Tanzania Revenue Authority ⁴. Lungu said waiting time had fallen from four days to one ⁴.

Documents and payments

For commercial cargo, WFP recommends a licensed customs clearing agent on both sides ¹. Self-drive vehicles need the original registration papers, a police clearance certificate, an owner's letter of authority where needed, a temporary import permit and third-party insurance ¹. WFP lists a carbon emissions surcharge and road access fees at the border but gives no amounts ¹.

Nakonde was one of two border posts where ZRA said it would begin piloting an electronic tax payment system for imports and exports in May 2015, as reported by Melisande Mual of The Paypers ⁵. Taxes and duties are paid to ZRA, whose official site carries its online payment service ⁶.