Luanda - Investment in the Lobito Corridor will make it possible to reach 1.5 million tonnes of cargo in three years, as compared to the currently 300,000 tons, transport minister Ricardo D'Abreu said.
Speaking Wednesday to Angolan public television, the minister said the Lobito Corridor's growth period would begin now, year one (1), in order to reach cruising speed in the next five years.
According to the minister, everything is being done for goods to be transported at the corridor, without any payment of customs duties, based on the agreement for the facilitation of goods.
"This is work that has already been done at other ports, even at the Port of Luanda, for cargo that is destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo and for this area further north. What happens with this facilitation agreement is that we guarantee that goods transit our corridor, without any customs effects", Abreu said.
The minister added that the port of Lobito was been chosen by the International Maritime Organisation to be a pilot experience for the " Single Maritime Window (MSW), however the country has a project dubbed Single Port Window, which integrates all the services needed to handle goods, including customs services.
The goal of the project is to simplify customs, administrative and bureaucratic procedures for the transit of goods through technological support.
According to the minister, the Lobito Corridor beyond national borders, with a structural impact on the entire Southern African Development Community (SADC) is becoming one of the main routes for the circulation of goods.
He noted that the Lobito Corridor established a connection to the world market, mainly via the port of Lobito, which guarantees a high percentage of the international trade volume of the entire sub-region.
Ricardo D'Abreu said that almost 2,000 jobs will be created along the Lobito Corridor, when fully operational, "direct jobs related to those directly involved in port and rail operations and indirect jobs, via other sectors”.
He added that the Angolan State has invested around 3.2 billion US dollars in the repair works of ports and other rail facilities.
At least three logistics platforms are to be built along the corridor in Huambo province, in Caála municipality, others in Cuima municipality, and in Luau municipality, Moxico Province.
The minister underscored that before the independence of Angola, the Lobito Corridor was able to export quantities of around 1.5 million tons of grain produced in the country's central highlands.
Known as "Lobito Atlantic Railway," the consortium, made up of Swiss company Trafigura, Portugal's Mota-Engil and Belgium's Vecturis SA, has officially started operating cargo transport on the Lobito rail corridor since July 4.
The international consortium is in charge of operating the Lobito Corridor over a 30-year period, re-stating its pledge to invest 500 million US dollars in Angola and around 100 million US dollars in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The signing of the contract took place in the rail port city of Lobito (in Benguela) witnessed by presidents João Lourenço (Angola), Félix Tshisekedi (DRC) and Hakainde Hichilerma (Zambia).
The Lobito Corridor stretches from the port of Lobito bordering the Atlantic Ocean crossing Angola through west to east, passing through the provinces of Benguela, Huambo, Bié and Moxico.
It covers the mining areas of Katanga province in the DRC and the Copperbelt in Zambia.
The corridor represents the shortest route to a port from the mineral-rich areas of DRC and Zambia.
Privately managed, the Lobito Corridor includes the Port of Lobito, the Mining Terminal, Catumbela Airport and the Benguela Railway .
For SADC, the corridor is seen as an important means of development for the region, with benefits for Angola and neighbouring countries (DRC and Zambia).
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