The Lobito Corridor, an ancient trade route that has been modernized, is now proving to be a strategic asset for Africa. This infrastructure, which connects the rich mining regions of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Copperbelt in Zambia to the Angolan port of Lobito, promises to revolutionize trade and economic development in Central Africa.
After falling into disuse, the Benguela railway, built in the early 20th century to transport minerals from Congo, has been rehabilitated and modernized in recent years thanks to major investment, initially from China, and more recently from Europe. The deep-water port of Lobito, the Atlantic arrival point of this vital route for the transport of raw materials – especially copper and cobalt – to international markets, has also been expanded and improved to handle a growing volume of traffic.
In linea con l’attuazione della sua strategia Global Gateway in Africa – piano infrastrutturale di natura globale volto ad aumentare la connettività dell’Europa con il resto del mondo – l’Unione Europea (UE) si mostra interessata alle opportunità di investimento legate al progetto di riabilitazione del Corridoio ferroviario di Lobito, come testimoniato dal rapporto “Analisi del clima degli investimenti per l’attuazione Global Gateway in Repubblica Democratica del Congo – Corridoio di Lobito” realizzato dallo Strumento TPSDE, un programma della Commissione europea per il commercio, lo sviluppo e l’impegno del settore privato e il mercato del lavoro. Il documento pone principalmente l’accento sulla sezione in questione da ristrutturare: la tratta Kolwezi-Dilolo, in Repubblica Democratica del Congo (RDC), che, lunga 427 chilometri, richiede una riabilitazione completa, stimata in 400 milioni di dollari, poiché le infrastrutture ferroviarie attuali sono inadeguate per supportare i volumi e il carico delle merci trasportate.
The rehabilitation is supported by an international consortium composed of the European companies Trafigura, Mota-Engil and Vecturis, in collaboration with the company that manages the port of Lobito, namely AGL (of the MSC group). The latter have announced significant investment, which adds to the investment promised by other partners, including Italy, the United States, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Finance Corporation (AFC). The project – which is also part of the G7 Global Partnership for Infrastructure and Investment (GPII) initiative, aimed at improving strategic infrastructure and value chains globally – also promises to meet the requirements of the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), recently adopted within the EU with the aim of strengthening European capacities in critical raw materials supply chains and strengthening the process for concluding strategic partnerships with third and emerging countries, particularly in the strategic framework of the Global Gateway.
The Lobito Corridor thus becomes a valid alternative to other projects, enabling both the EU and the United States to strengthen their ties with Africa and, at the same time, facilitate access to critical raw materials needed for the global energy transition. In fact, according to estimates, in order to reach the European and US markets, copper and cobalt extracted from the mines of Katanga shall stay only 20 days on African soil up to the port of Lobito, compared to 45 days via the Tazara Corridor up to the Tanzanian port of Dar-Es-Salaam, on the Indian Ocean. Besides becoming a bridge between Africa and the rest of the world by connecting the Angolan port to the Congolese mining cities of Lubumbashi and Kolwezi, the Lobito Corridor is a tool for regional integration and a driver for local economic development in Central Africa.
Despite the rosy outlook, realizing the full potential of the Lobito Corridor is not without challenges, starting with the difficulty of encouraging investment in a region marked by a long history of political and social instability.
However, in view of turning obstacles into opportunities, the TPSDE-Facility experts recommend – first of all – supporting specific projects aimed at the local development of value chains, such as the on-site production of batteries for electric vehicles, also considering the currently limited European and US refining capacities. Furthermore, such projects could act as a catalyst for the development of a local industrial fabric, based on the processing of raw materials and the manufacturing of finished products.
Besides the mining, logistics, industrial and commercial sectors, the new railway infrastructure will also benefit the agricultural and livestock sector, through the development of local capacities that may derive from partnerships with foreign companies aimed at increasing the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, but also the professionalization – for example – of Congolese corn farmers in Haut-Katanga and Lualaba. Considering the energy deficit that the DRC faces, there is also great scope for collaboration to implement technical and professional training activities in the renewable energy sector, also in light of the energy projects already underway in the region. Still with a view to developing local capacity, the rehabilitated railway will require constant maintenance and ongoing technological updating to ensure its efficiency, thus creating new opportunities to train experts capable of providing maintenance and improvements suitable for the infrastructure.
