"The DFC believes that some of the clauses in the contract could be different and the partners are approaching us with this in mind, but there is no need to postpone it," said Lima Massano, speaking to Lusa on the sidelines of the 17th US-Africa Business Summit, which is taking place in Luanda.
The Lobito Corridor is an infrastructure considered key to regional integration, crossing Angola from the port of Lobito, on the west coast, to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), also connecting to Zambia via a railway line.
The Development Finance Corporation (DFC), a US financial institution, is expected to finance this project with around 553 million dollars to modernise the infrastructure, the concession for which was awarded to the Lobito Atlantic Railway consortium (formed by Mota-Engil, Trafigura and Vecturis) for 30 years.
The official rejected a substantive review of the concession contract, but admitted that "one or another clause" could be adjusted to facilitate the relationship between operators and financiers.
"Not the contract, not the contract. We may have one or another clause in this contract that could be adjusted to facilitate this relationship between operators and their financiers," he said.
"What we seek to do is to provide all the support requested of us, we seek to improve the business environment so that investments can take place. This is not a direct support to the Angolan government, to our budget, but to the private sector. Our goal is to unblock situations and allow the environment to be increasingly favorable so that investments can be made quickly," the official added.
According to Lima Massano, the Government has sought to respond to the concerns of its partners, especially with regard to additional guarantees.
"We are talking about private initiative, but the financiers say: 'If things don't go well, how can the State help, for example'", he added, revealing that the latest requests and repairs were presented by the DFC and the Angolan authorities responded on Wednesday last week.
Despite the reservations, the minister stressed that the relationship with the United States is on a path of "consolidation" and that support for strategic projects such as the Lobito Corridor continues.
"What we heard from the North American authorities is that it is an important project, it is a strategic project and that support continues", he stressed.
Questioned about the criticism made this Monday by the president of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, regarding travel restrictions for citizens of African countries and the imposition of abusive tariffs by the United States, Lima Massano also expressed concern.
"It's not just Angola, it's the continent and today we're talking about integration, etc. And of course, we're concerned when there are policies that could jeopardize our ability to continue growing with the sense of strategic partnership that Africa seeks to build with the world and with the United States of America," he stressed.
