The ceremony is being promoted by the Municipal Administration of Lobito, according to a statement sent to VerAngola. "Today [Tuesday] a ceremony promoted by the Municipal Administration of Lobito was held to mark the beginning of the transfer of the concession of railway services and logistical support of the Lobito Corridor to Lobito Atlantic Railway, a company that will take over the operation, management and maintenance of the railway infrastructure for the transport of goods for the corridor of around 1300 km that connects Porto do Lobito to Luau, in eastern Angola, close to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo", reads the note.
On the occasion, João Lourenço considered that the Lobito Corridor "will certainly boost intra-African exports".
"The Lobito Corridor - which connects Angola to the Democratic Republic of Congo and whose concession we are awarding today - and which plans to extend to Zambia, will certainly boost intra-African exports, which currently account for only 14 percent of total exports for the rest of the world. Numbers like this show us the importance and the need to place our infrastructures at the service of the economic and social development of our countries and our continent. And here we are doing it with vision, purpose and clearly defined objectives", said the head of state during the ceremony.
The Minister of Transport, Ricardo Viegas d'Abreu, referred that the Lobito Corridor "is a powerful infrastructure that definitely marks the image of Angola before the world, namely with private investors and financial institutions in the United States, Europe and other geographies", reads the note.
In turn, Jeremy Weir – who spoke on behalf of LAR at the event – said they see this corridor "as a partnership between the public and private sectors".
"We see the Lobito railway corridor as a partnership between the public and private sectors. A partnership between three countries – Angola, DRC and Zambia – and between three companies – Trafigura, Vecturis and Mota-Engil", he said, quoted in the note.
"Together, we share the vision of creating the most important logistics corridor in sub-Saharan Africa. We believe that the Lobito rail corridor has enormous potential to drive the development of sectors along the entire line, including heavy industry, agriculture and mining, creating jobs and new opportunities. We believe that the Lobito Railway will be a catalyst for growth and investment in Angola, the DRC, Zambia and the entire region. It is, moreover, a vision shared by the three countries, which have already signed an agreement to accelerate the growth of domestic and cross-border trade along the corridor. And the fact that President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President Tshisekedi and President Hichilema are here today, reinforces their commitment to develop and use this railroad for the benefit of the entire region", he added.
"The Lobito Railway Corridor extends, in Angola, for almost 1,300 km and then continues for 400 km in the Democratic Republic of Congo to Kolwezi, the heart of the Copperbelt, and is also connected to the extensive railway network managed by the National Railway Society of Congo (SNCC)", the note also mentions, which adds that the concession, for 30 years, was awarded to the LAR consortium, which is made up of the companies Trafigura, Mota-Engil and Vecturis.
