The strategic Lobito Corridor is back in operation, with the docking of the bulk carrier Lindsaylou, loaded with 40 500 tons of sulphur at the Lobito port mineral terminal in July this year.Operator of the terminal is the concession holder, the Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR) consortium, which is also responsible for the operation, management and maintenance of the railway linking Angola to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Loaded into bags, the sulphur was transported to the DRC on LAR cargo trains for copper refining in the Katanga region. “This marks the final step in bringing together all of the logistics required to operationalise and develop LAR to its full potential,” said Francisco Franca, president of the Board of Directors of LAR, on the arrival of the vessel.According to LAR, the rehabilitated Lobito line to the Angola/DRC border at Lau, is carrying two cross-border freight trains a week and around 50 domestic freight trains a month. The objective is to build capacity to six cross-border freight trains a day through the investment of around $800 million during the lifetime of the 30-year concession. LAR has begun purchasing rolling stock and undertaking maintenance work on the existing line, according to the company.Finance is being provided by the European Union and United States as the Lobito line is seen as a vital logistics link for electric vehicle (EV) battery raw materials – a value chain currently dominated by China.The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that, between 2020 and 2040, demand for nickel and cobalt will increase by 20 times, graphite 25 times, and lithium more than 40 times.This surge in demand for critical raw materials (CRMs) has fuelled a scramble for access, according to Dr E D Wala Chabala, an independent economic policy and strategy consultant and MBA lecturer at the African Policy Research Institute.He points out that several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and agreements focusing directly or indirectly on the development of the Lobito Corridor have been signed recently. “Common among them is a sharp focus on the use of the corridor as a route along which CRMs and EV battery value chain products can be transported to the EU and the US,” he wrote in an article published by the Institute.The objective of the Western countries is to extend the line to service the whole Copperbelt.An MoU signed by the EU, the US, the DRC, Zambia, Angola, the African Development Bank, and the Africa Finance Corporation includes an extension of the railway line to Zambia. More recently, the EU signed MoUs with the DRC and Zambia which outline how it is seeking to secure the supply of strategic minerals and CRMs.
