Ricardo de Abreu signed this Friday, in Lobito (Benguela province), with his counterparts from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (RDCongo), the agreement of the Transit Transport Facilitation Agency of the Lobito Corridor (LCTTFA), stressing that it will be a support body for all the activity that will be developed along the Lobito corridor, integrating technical teams from the three countries.
"The moment is for action, more than words and agreements, as the two heads of state of Angola and Zambia recently mentioned, we are now going to start working", said the minister in statements to TPA.
According to the minister, the agreement is essential to further consolidate the work carried out in recent years to boost the Lobito corridor, with projects to reinforce equipment and means of transport for the province and the Benguela Railway (CFB ), as well as the process that led to the concession of the Lobito corridor.
The official underlined that the agreement is very important for the three countries, as it is the "most effective corridor from the point of view of transporting cargo and passengers to this region and to these same countries".
"Facilitating the transport of ores and other products, from the inside to the outside, in a downward direction, but also enabling the transport of goods, equipment and other needs that these populations of our neighboring countries have today", he highlighted.
According to the Minister of Transport, the headquarters of the facilitation agency will be in Lobito, with actions underway so that the governance bodies, executive secretariat and all technical teams can be formalized and start working to guarantee support for the concession.
"The consortium's technical teams are already here in Lobito working with the CFB and the port of Lobito. It is a complex mobilization work, because there are certain types of operations that will not cease to be under the responsibility of the CFB and there is work of mobilization and integration of teams, people, equipment, some investments that we need to make, we are counting on the fact that in the next 60 days we will effectively have the entity here operating with peace of mind and guaranteeing the potential of this corridor", he said.
The Lobito corridor extends from the port of Lobito, bathed by the Atlantic Ocean, and crosses Angola from west to east, passing through the provinces of Benguela, Huambo, Bié and Moxico, covering the mining areas of the Congolese province of Catanga and Copperbelt , from Zambia.
The Atlantic Railway consortium, formed by Trafigura, Vecturis and Mota-Engil, is responsible for the operation, exploitation and maintenance of the rail transport of goods and logistics, for a period of 30 years, extendable for a further 50 years, should it choose to build the rail branch from Luacano, Moxico–Jimbe Province, Zambia.
The railway linking Lobito to Luau is the longest in Angola, with a total length of 1290 kilometers and connecting the port of Lobito, on the Atlantic coast, to the border town of Luau, Moxico.
