António Manuel Cabral was speaking to journalists during a visit by a delegation of European Union ambassadors to the Lobito Corridor, which on Tuesday covered a 200-kilometre stretch of road between Huambo and Bié, two of the five provinces crossed by the railway infrastructure, for around seven hours.
In the municipality of Chinguar, the ambassadors met with young farmers who are beneficiaries of the Commercial Agriculture Development Project (PDAC), financed by the European Union and the French Development Agency (AFD), who explained how access to bank financing has allowed them to increase production, although it is also necessary to improve distribution.
During the meeting, the president of the CFB announced the creation of the "Camacove" train (which takes its name from the old colonial goods train), consisting of carriages and wagons designed to transport small loads.
"This is what the Railway can do to help small producers transport their produce along the entire length of the Lobito Corridor", he stated.
Currently, two separate entities operate this infrastructure: CFB, a public company responsible for social transport — passengers and cargo up to five tons — and Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR), a private consortium responsible for the transport of large goods (mainly minerals) and the operation of the railway line.
LAR is an international consortium that includes Trafigura (Switzerland), Mota-Engil (Portugal) and Vecturis (Belgium), responsible for the operation and maintenance of the railway infrastructure under a 30-year concession.
Speaking to Lusa, António Cabral said that, from September, the new train will run between Huambo and Lobito, on the Atlantic coast of Angola, and another passenger and light cargo train is already in operation between Huambo and Luau, on the eastern border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo).
The Lobito Corridor, which is over 1300 kilometres long, connects the port of Lobito, in the province of Benguela, to eastern Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and is considered a strategic infrastructure for the transport of minerals and goods in the Central African region.
According to António Cabral, the prices charged by the CFB are "social" and aim to guarantee access to transport for the population and rural producers.
"The CFB transports around one million passengers per year and used to move around 300 thousand tonnes per year. Now we are repositioning ourselves towards small loads, because we have disassociated ourselves from large volumes", he said.
The official highlighted among the main services in operation an express passenger train between Lobito and Luena, with stops in Huambo and Cuito, and the Lobito–Benguela connection, which transports around 3000 people per day, with a ticket costing 100 kwanzas.
The visit organised by the Delegation of the European Union in Angola is taking place in the provinces of Bié and Huambo, with the aim of showcasing EU-funded projects and reinforcing interest in the Lobito Corridor.
At the start of the visit, which departed from the city of Huambo, the European Union Ambassador to Angola, Rosário Bento Pais, stressed that this is the first of a series of visits to all the provinces covered by the Lobito Corridor — Benguela, Huambo, Bié, Moxico and Moxico Leste — highlighting that European investments go far beyond infrastructure.
"The European Union invests in areas other than just infrastructure", she stated, highlighting economic diversification, education and good governance as priorities until 2027.
"May this corridor be a good example and support the development of others [in Africa]", she added.
The Secretary of State for Transport, Jorge Bengue, took the opportunity to launch an appeal for European investment:
"May more investors come to Africa to discover how good it is to do business in Africa."
