Kinshasa and Luanda have taken a new step in the development of the Lobito corridor. The DRC and Angola have signed a thirty-year concession contract to rehabilitate, modernize and operate the Dilolo-Sakania railway line, a strategic axis for opening up southeastern Congo and facilitating its access to the Atlantic.
The Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola are seeking to accelerate their economic integration. During a working visit by Angolan President João Lourenço to Kinshasa, the two countries signed a concession agreement on Wednesday for the railway line linking Dilolo, in Lualaba province, to Sakania, in Haut-Katanga province. This infrastructure is a crucial link in the Lobito corridor. Its development is intended to more effectively connect the important mining regions of southeastern DRC to the Angolan port of Lobito on the Atlantic Ocean. The project includes the rehabilitation, modernization, extension, and operation of the line for a period of thirty years.
The Congolese state will retain ownership of the infrastructure and at least 10% of the capital of the company in charge of the project. At the end of the concession, the facilities must revert to the DRC. The concessionaire will also assume the investments and risks associated with traffic, without any sovereign guarantee or operating subsidies from Kinshasa.
A project estimated at 1,2 billion to transform regional trade
Beyond the export of strategic minerals from Katanga and Lualaba, the two governments aim to make the corridor a much broader trade route. The line is also intended to transport agricultural products, hydrocarbons, industrial inputs, containers, and consumer goods, while also accommodating passengers. Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi also emphasizes the expected economic benefits for the DRC. The project is expected to promote job creation, youth training, the use of Congolese businesses, and technology transfer.
Kinshasa and Luanda are simultaneously planning to harmonize their rail operations, tariffs, and customs procedures to facilitate the flow of goods between the two countries. This is a crucial step to making the corridor competitive with other trade routes used by producers in southern DRC. The investment is estimated at 1,2 billion, and the railway is only one part of the program. Cross-border roads, logistics platforms, and various energy infrastructures are also planned to support its development.
The economic rapprochement between the two neighbors must finally extend to energy. Angola and the DRC wish to revive their cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector and accelerate their electricity interconnection projects, with the particular objective of strengthening the supply to Katanga. For both Kinshasa and Luanda, the Lobito corridor thus represents much more than a railway link: it must become a new economic axis between the producing regions of the heart of Southern Africa and international markets via the Atlantic coast.
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