2024-02-11 13:20:52
A 30-year concession contract, with the possibility of an extension of 20 years, was awarded to the consortium to connect Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the port of Lobito in Angola.
Gaston Mutamba Permission
From February 5 to 8, the African Mining Indaba 2024 conference was held at the Cape Town International Convention Center in South Africa under the theme “Embracing the Power of Positive Disruption: A Bold New Future for Africa’s Mining Industry”. This conference, which brings together several thousand professionals each year, makes it possible to establish business contacts, learn about trends in the mining products market, share experiences and technological advances, and inform investors about the business climate. and to sell them business opportunities arising in the country. The participants expose not only the potential of the countries but above all the achievements in the mining sector as well as the strategies to attract financial resources. Thus, on the sidelines of this event, the Trafigura company and the Ivanhoe Mines company signed, on February 7, an agreement aimed at exporting 690,000 tonnes of copper annually via the Lobito rail corridor. The company Ivanhoe Mines had already shipped, on December 23, 2023, on a trial basis, 1,110 tonnes of copper concentrate from the Kamoa-Kakula mining complex via the railway which goes from Kolwezi (DR Congo) to the port of Lobito in Angola. The cargo arrived at its destination on December 31, 2023, a journey of only eight days compared to around twenty-five days when the copper is exported by road to the port of Durban in South Africa via Kasumbalesa. The distance from Kamoa-Kakula to Lobito is half that to Durban. The observation was that the journey is faster and cheaper.
The Lobito Atlantic Railway Corridor was born on July 4, 2023, when the heads of state of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia met in Luanda (Angola) to initial the agreement relating to the operation of the railway linking the port of Lobito. The agreement covered the operation, operation and maintenance of rail transport. The Lobito Atlantic International consortium was selected to operate the rail corridor. The consortium includes the companies Trafigura (Swiss trader), Vecturis SA (Belgian railway operator) and Mota-Engil Engenharia e Construcao Africa SA (Portuguese public works and railway company). A 30-year concession contract, with the possibility of an extension of 20 years, was awarded to the consortium to connect Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the port of Lobito in Angola.
The corridor initially extends over a length of more than 1,700 km, i.e. 1,289 km in Angola and nearly 450 km in DR Congo up to Kolwezi. It will allow products from Congolese mining regions to be evacuated to the Atlantic Ocean, thus contributing to the opening up and development of the Kasai and Katanga regions. It will contribute to the transport not only of minerals such as copper, cobalt, lithium but also of agricultural products and general merchandise as well as travelers. The amount of the project is 555 million dollars, partly financed by the United States (250 million dollars) for the renovation and modernization of the corridor.
There is now talk of extending the Lobito corridor to neighboring Zambia. In this context, the United States and the European Union are ready to participate in financing the construction, by 2028, of an 800-kilometer railway line to connect the Lobito corridor to Zambia. This is to facilitate their supply of essential minerals to ensure the energy transition (copper, cobalt, lithium).
Gaston Mutamba Permission
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