In late August, a container vessel sailed out of Angola’s Port of Lobito carrying railway operator Lobito Atlantic Railway’s first shipment of copper from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the US.
It was a milestone moment for the Lobito Corridor, an initiative backed by a US and Europe that aims to create an efficient transport link from Africa’s mineral-rich interior to the port on its west coast for export, by rejuvenating and expanding old railways.
It took the copper six days to travel from the city of Kolwezi in the DRC – home to some of the world’s largest copper and cobalt reserves – across more than 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) of rail lines to the Port of Lobito.
That’s about 30 days faster than a road journey, according to Francisco Franca, the CEO of Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR), a consortium of firms that took over operations of the railway in January. Franca says LAR is investing $250 million to improve the rail lines and telecommunications infrastructure in Angola, and add 1,500 wagons to its fleet.
Momentum behind the corridor connecting Africa’s so-called Copperbelt to the Atlantic Ocean comes as Beijing and Washington jostle for supremacy in green technology, driving demand for critical minerals like copper, lithium and cobalt.
https://edition.cnn.com/world/africa/angola-lobito-corridor-railway-impact-spc/index.html