The Lobito Corridor is fast gaining traction among Copperbelt miners.After the successful handling of 1 100 tons of copper from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in late 2023, Canadian miner Ivanhoe has signed an agreement to transport between 120 000 and 240 000 tons of copper on the rail line from 2025.Trial shipments will continue through 2024.Speaking at the announcement of the agreement, Ivanhoe Mines’ founder and executive co-chairman, Robert Friedland, said “the economic corridor will unlock more copper projects due to the lower logistical costs. Cheaper logistics increase the amount of economically recoverable copper, as cut-off grades can be lowered”.The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) describes the corridor as a “significant milestone for Angola and its landlocked, mineral-rich neighbours. “Strategic minerals such as copper, cobalt and lithium from the DRC and Zambia will now be exported more efficiently to global markets”.Lobito railway is managed by Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR) under a 30-year concession from the Angola government.The multinational consortium comprises Trafigura (Switzerland, with a 49.5% stake), Mota-Engil (Portugal 49.4%) and Vecturis ( B e l g i u m 1%) .At full capacity, the railway line will be able to handle five million tons a year, up from the current one million tons.There is, however, much more to the corridor.Ellington Arnold, manager, US-Africa Business Center, at the US Chamber of Commerce, told the Lobito Corridor Private Sector Investment Forum in February that the vision is to construct 560 kilometres of rail in Zambia, along with hundreds of kilometres of feeder roads to link the southern part of The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the northwestern part of Zambia to regional and global markets via Angola’s Port of Lobito.It includes ongoing upgrading by the LAR of the 1 300km Benguela rail line that connects Angola to DRC.The planning includes investments in green energy, sustainable mining, energy storage and social projects such as public health initiatives.“When completed, the project will expand an economic corridor connecting all three host countries to the world, potentially lower costs for business, and advance the shared vision of connected, open-access rail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean,” he wrote.The United States has committed $360 million towards the rollout of the Lobito Corridor.It is emerging as a counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative in these countries, according to Raisina Debates of the Indian independent global think tank Observer Research Foundation.
