A group of investors led by commodity trader Trafigura Group plans to invest as much as $555-million in a railway project that will link the Angolan port of Lobito to neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
The consortium, known as Lobito Atlantic Railways, will spend $455-million on the so-called Lobito Corridor – a 1 344-km-long trade route – as well as up to $100-million on a 400 km railway line in Congo, Angolan Transport Minister Ricardo Viegas d’Abreu said Tuesday in a statement. The group of investors includes Portuguese construction company Mota-Engil Engenharia e Construcao Africa and Vecturis SA, a Brussels-based private railway operator.
Lobito Atlantic has been granted a 30-year concession to operate the Lobito Corridor, with the possibility of it being extended to 50 years if the railway is expanded into Zambia, Viegas d’Abreu said.
Using the so-called Caminho-de-Ferro de Benguela railway will provide faster trade routes to Europe and the Americas from the copper and cobalt-rich areas of Congo and Zambia, according to the statement.
The US has pledged to help finance the project, Angolan President Joao Lourenco said in the statement.