The appeal was made by the Minister of Transport, Ricardo de Abreu, while speaking during the act of passing over the concession of rail services and logistics support for the Lobito corridor, in Benguela province, on the south coast of Angola.
A 'joint-venture' created by the Swiss multinational Trafigura, the Belgian Vecturis and the Portuguese Mota-Engil, will manage, maintain and operate the Lobito corridor for 30 years, a concession that can be extended for another 20 years.
"From now on, what we want and what we ask of those who will operate this great initiative is that they surprise us, just as they surprised us positively throughout the entire tender that ran until the contract was awarded", said Ricardo de Abreu.
The minister also asked that they also surprise "in time and with results for companies, for the population, for Angola, for the Democratic Republic of Congo and for Zambia".
"And that it contributes to maintaining and raising this railway corridor to the top of the 'ranking' of the main corridors for facilitating trade, logistics and transport in Southern Africa and its development", he stressed.
At the ceremony, which was attended by the Presidents of Angola, João Lourenço, of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, and of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo), Félix Tshisekedi, the chief executive of Trafigura, Jeremy Weir, said that the three companies 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 boost the development of sectors along the entire line, including heavy industry, agriculture and mining, creating jobs and new opportunities", said Jeremy Weir, who was speaking in name of Lobito Atlantic Railway.
The investments planned by the consortium include the acquisition of 1,555 wagons and 35 locomotives for the Angolan side alone, at an estimated 455 million dollars and another 100 million dollars for the RDCongo.
