Luanda - The country's macroeconomic situation and business environment dominated the meeting between Angola’s minister of transport, Ricardo Viegas D'Abreu, and the general director for structured financial operations of the Development Finance Agency (DFC), Nancy Rivera.
A press release from the Ministry of Transport, which ANGOP had access to today, says that Nancy Rivera trip to Angola is directly related to Lobito Corridor and focused on a due diligence to the Angolan legal and regulatory framework.
During the meeting, they accessed the possibility of the United States to provide funds for the operationalization of the Lobito Corridor through Development Finance Agency.
DFC is a US government-owned development finance agency that finances private sector-led projects in sectors whose impact in low-income countries is expected to be high in terms of wealth creation, economic and social wellbeing.
“This analysis by the DFC has, above all, to do with the interest and willingness shown by the United States to invest in the operationalization of the Lobito Corridor, a project that it considers to be structural for the economies of the three countries that form it – Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia”, the press release reads.
Ricardo Viegas D'Abreu, quoted by the document, revealed that during the meeting he made a point of highlighting “the importance and effects already achieved in the transport sector, with the reforms carried out, namely with the creation of adequate regulation and supervision bodies, which contribute to building confidence in the private sector and in financial institutions such as DFC.
He added that reforms made it possible to “invest in improving infrastructure, maintenance, logistics services and national transport security which are articulated with neighboring countries, creating and diversifying the expected regional integration means.
According to the Minister of Transport, the delegation headed by Nancy Rivera made a point of highlighting “the quality and transparency of the process that led to the award of the Lobito Corridor’s operationalization to a private consortium, made up of three solid companies, with technical and proven financial.
Angolan Government, through the Ministry of Transport, and the consortium formed by the companies Trafigura Group Pte Ltd, Vecturis, SA, and Mota-Engil, signed on 4 November 2022 the concession contract for the Lobito Corridor.
Over the next 30 years, this consortium will take over the operation, exploration and maintenance of rail freight transport, as well as the maintenance of all existing infrastructure along the Corridor.
The value of the signing premium for this concession is US$100 million, a value in line with the number of other concessions in the transport sector in Angola, having made it possible to differentiate competitors, based on their financial capacity, in view of the assets size. HEM/AC/DOJ
