Luanda – President João Lourenço on Wednesday thanked his US counterpart, Joe Biden, for his seriousness in fulfilling the promise made at the 2022 US/Africa Summit in Washington DC, related to the construction of the Lobito Corridor.
“It is indeed starting to materialize,” said the President during the Multilateral Summit on the Lobito Corridor, held in Benguela province, as part of President Joe Biden's visit to Angola.
According to João Lourenço, the project is an infrastructure that African statesmen have been calling for, so that it can guarantee the development of the continent and that without connectivity, without energy, food security cannot be guaranteed.
In addition to President João Lourenço, the Multilateral Summit on the Lobito Corridor was attended by Heads of State Joe Biden (USA), Félix Tshisekedi (DRC), Hakainde Hichilema (Zambia) and the Vice-President of Tanzania, Philip Mpango.
Lobito Corridor
Privately managed for a period of 30 years by the Lobito Atlantic Railway Consortium, made up of the companies Vecturis, Trafigura and Mota Engil, the Lobito Corridor includes the port, the mining terminal, Catumbela International Airport and the Benguela Railway (CFB), whose line stretches for 1,344 kilometers to Luau, in Moxico.
Given its strategic role for regional economic development, more than two billion dollars have been invested in the rehabilitation and modernization of the Corridor's infrastructure to boost the transport of various goods, benefiting the three bordering countries.
The Angolan government is already planning to build a 259-kilometer line linking the country to Zambia, from the municipality of Luacano (Moxico) to the Zambian border region of Jimbe.
The rehabilitation of the railways in Zambia and the DRC is essential to enable them to be interconnected with the CFB, in the Luau area, on the Angolan border, and thus revitalize the transport of ore to Lobito.
The Corridor's two main infrastructures, namely the Port of Lobito and the CFB, are preparing to face the challenge ahead, due to new investments, as well as US and European Union interest in increasing the movement of cargo in the region.
With the infrastructure of the Lobito Corridor (Port, Mining Terminal, CFB and Airport) and its agricultural, fishing and salt potential, the province of Benguela and the country as a whole are set to experience major economic growth in the near future.
The agreement to create the Lobito Corridor Freight Transport Facilitation Agency will accelerate the growth of domestic and cross-border trade, through the implementation of harmonized trade facilitation instruments, promoting the effective participation of small and medium-sized companies in value chains.
The Lobito Corridor presents an alternative strategic route to the export markets of the DRC and Zambia and offers the shortest route linking the main mining regions of the two landlocked countries.
In Angola, the Corridor connects 40% of the country's population, and several major investments are underway in agriculture and trade in the provinces of Benguela, Huambo, Bié and Moxico, regions crossed by the CFB.
The signing of the legal instrument creates a framework for the three Southern African Development Community (SADC) member countries to jointly develop 'harmonized' laws, policies, regulations and corridor systems, including infrastructures in a coordinated and coherent manner.
The prospect is to achieve alignment with the regional organization's treaty, protocols and development frameworks, such as the Indicative Regional Strategic Development Plan 2020-2030.
Regional impact
The Lobito Corridor is of strategic importance to the region, as it will contribute to food and energy security for Angola, the DRC and Zambia, as well as creating jobs in all three countries.
The development of the Lobito Corridor is considered to be of the utmost importance for all those involved in this large-scale project, with both internal and external impact.
It will boost agribusiness, food industry, processing of raw materials, particularly minerals that are critical for the maintenance and growth of the automotive industry, which will circulate and cross borders to international markets.
The Lobito Corridor is also a platform for boosting the provincial and national economies, enabling the creation of direct and indirect jobs. It will also make a decisive contribution to the cohesion of economic growth in the interior of the country, strengthening trade between the states that are part of it, as well as providing logistical access for the transport and import of goods. ART/DAN/AMP
