Ricardo Viegas de Abreu spoke to Lusa about the strategic importance of the railway lines, for which public tenders will be opened, as well as the ports, which the government also wants to make competitive through concessions
Regarding the Lobito corridor, already under concession to the Portuguese Mota-Engil, the Swiss Trafigura and the Belgian Vecturis, and which will take over the management of the 30-year operation of rail freight transport between Lobito (Benguela) and Luau (Moxico), crossing Angola from end to end, he added that the assets will be formally transferred to the consortium next July.
The minister highlighted the strategic importance of this corridor for Angola and neighboring countries, namely the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, as well as the Atlantic and other African regions and added that the members of the consortium "are aware of the challenges on the other sides of the border".
"The dynamics of the corridor will allow other effects to happen in our economy", said the official, pointing to the interest around investment in areas such as ores, agriculture and the steel industry.
Ricardo D'Abreu highlighted that all Angolan railways are linked to ports and that the concern is to extend them to the borders. So far, only the Benguela railway reaches DRCongo, but the aim is for the Moçâmedes railway to reach Namibia and Zambia as well.
This will be the second railway concession to be launched by public tender, after Lobito, but the Minister in charge of Transport considers that the complexity will be lower "since the economic foundations, such as mineral resources or ornamental rocks, are in Angola and do not depend on other countries neighbors".
In terms of public investment, the priority projects are the rehabilitation of the Zenza do Itombe-Cacuso section (Luanda's railway), a "critical" section that will allow for an increase in average speed to Malanje, and the construction of the railway line that it will connect Luena (Moxico) to Saurimo (Lunda Sul) with 256 kilometres.
In total, the two projects have an estimated duration of around four years and an investment of around 2.3 billion dollars, he told Lusa, adding that the connection of the three existing railways is also being studied. "which will have a great impact at the national level".
Also with regard to ports, the aim is to ensure involvement of the private sector to have "better operation, more quality of service and international competitiveness", with international partners that, according to Ricardo D'Abreu, are important to guarantee greater mobilization of cargo.
The multipurpose terminal in Lobito is in the process of formalizing the concession, while the multipurpose terminal in Luanda was granted a concession in 2020 to the multinational DP World from Dubai.
In Barra do Dande, north of Luanda, where a free zone is being developed, a port and a railway branch connecting to the Luanda railway should also be built, through a public-private partnership.
