adminJOHANNESBURG. – A consortium led by multinational commodities trader Trafigura will run the R10.5 billion railway project set to link Angola’s Lobito port to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, it was announced this week.
On Tuesday, the presidents of Angola, Zambia and the DRC met in Lobito to announce that the Lobito Atlantic Railway would operate, manage and maintain the rail infrastructure for the movement of goods along the 1 300km corridor for the next 30 years.
It is a consortium joint venture of Trafigura; Mota-Engil, an international construction and infrastructure management company; and independent rail operator Vecturis SA.
The railway is expected to be the shortest and fastest way to port from the major mining district of Kolwezi in the DRC, where exports of copper, cobalt, and other raw materials are growing rapidly, according to the announcement. It will also extend to Zambia’s copper belt. Lobito will further give the region’s quickest export and import route to Europe and the Americas.
The other aim is to offer a more rapid and secure route for people travelling within Angola on the Benguela Railway. This will be linked to a non-congested port in Lobito, providing an alternative to east African ports with long waits and congestion. – News24.com
Angolan president João Lourenço, in a statement issued by Trafigura, said it was hoped that extending the corridor to Zambia would boost intra-Africa trade.
Online Reporter