Trade exchange in the southern African sub-region will gain momentum after the signing of the contract for the transfer of the rail services and logistics support concession for the Lobito Corridor on Tuesday (4) in Lobito, coastal benguela province.
Lobito Atlantic Railway, the consortium that won the international tender to operate the Corridor on November 4, 2022, is made up of Trafigura, Vecturis and Mota-Engil.
The consortium has predicted to increase the daily frequency to 50 trains and guarantee 1,600 direct jobs in period of 30 years.
It will be responsible for transporting large cargoes, such as ores from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, as well as maintenance of infrastructure (workshops, railway line).
Under private management, the Lobito Corridor includes the Port of Lobito, the Mining Terminal, Catumbela Airport and the Benguela Railway.
Over USD 2 billion has been earmarked for rehabilitating and modernising the Lobito Corridor’s infrastructures and circulating means, aimed to boost the transport of various goods, benefiting the three border countries.
Angola plans to conduct a feasibility study for construction of the 259-kilometre line, which will link Angola to Zambia, from the municipality of Ruacano (Moxico), to the border region of Jimbe (Zambia). The process is awaiting the launch of a public tender.
The rebuilding of the railways in Zambia and the DRC is fundamental for their interconnection to the CFB, in the Luau area, on the Angolan border, and thus reviving the transport of minerals to Lobito.
As for the two main infrastructures in the corridor, namely the Commercial Port of Lobito and the CFB, they have prepared themselves to face the challenge that lies ahead, with the increase in cargo movement in the region.
The Lobito Corridor presents an alternative strategic route to the Zambian and DRC export markets and offers the shortest route connecting the main mining regions of the two landlocked countries to the sea.
In Angola, it connects 40 percent of the country’s population, boosting major investments in agriculture and trade in the provinces of Benguela, Huambo, Bié and Moxico, regions crossed by the CFB.
The award of the Lobito Corridor to the consortium made up of Trafigura, Vecturis and Mota Engil has significant benefits for the country.
The initiative insures direct impact on the development of industries that are heavily dependent on the logistics chain, such as agriculture and mining, and the resulting creation of jobs in each of these areas.
This infrastructure will also create opportunities for the development of small businesses adjacent to rail transport and a competitive rail alternative to road transport. This alternative is capable of contributing to the reduction of freight rates.
Financially, its exploration will allow rail transport “to bring a set of positive benefits, contributing to local and regional development, around the railway line, and may represent a contribution to the Gross Domestic Product, estimated between 1.6 and 3.4 billion dollars.
The technical capacity and financial strength of the consortium companies are a guarantee for the correct operation of goods transport in the Lobito Corridor.
The Belgian company Vecturis is a private rail operator which provides passenger, ore and freight transport services anywhere in the world.
Founded in 2006, it is one of the most experienced rail operators in the market for private rail operations in emerging economies and already operates in countries such as South Africa, Brazil, Russia, among others.
Swiss-based Trafigura, founded in 1993, is one of the largest physical commodities trading groups in the world. It also owns and operates several industrial assets, including the fuel storage and distribution company Puma Energy. It currently employs more than 13,000 people in 48 countries.
In turn, the Portuguese company Mota Engil has been operating in the Angolan market for over 70 years in the engineering and construction sector Benguela Railroad will be responsible for transporting passengers and lighter cargo.
CFB has 67 stations along a 1,344-kilometre railway line across the provinces of Benguela, Bié, Huambo and Moxico.
It has a control centre, located in Lobito, to interact with the trains via internet, regardless of their position, workshops in Huambo and Lobito, as well as hospitals and medical posts for its workers.
The commercial port of Lobito, in Benguela province, is making major investments focused on creating conditions to become a landlord port, according to its chairman of the board, Celso Rosas.
As a landlord port, the port of Lobito will only focus on public management and handling of passengers and commercial products, whilst the private sector will be in charge of port facilities, in the form of a concession.
According to the CEO, this situation, will lead to the port management having as its main attributions those of regulating and supervising the port’s activity, playing the role of port authority.
The Port of Lobito’s main infrastructures are the Multipurpose Terminal (general and container cargo), the Ore Terminal and the Dry Port
Source: Angola Press News Agency