ZAMBIAN President Hakainde Hichilema hailed plans to connect his country to the US-backed Lobito railway corridor project, saying it would boost the continent’s ambitions to become a more significant participant in the global economy.
“This corridor is of vital importance to opening up our countries, to opening up our regions, the continent, and truly the global economy,” Reuters cited Hichilema as saying. “This project is a huge opportunity for investment, for trade.”
Hichilema was commenting following a meeting with outgoing US President Joe Biden who, on his first formal visit to Africa as president, also met with the presidents of Angola and Congo as well as the vice president of Tanzania.
“The presidents underscored their conviction,” a White House statement said, “that countries should not be held back from investing in their development by the need to service unsustainably high debt, and together committed to continue advocating for reform.”
The US has provided a $550m loan to support the Lobito venture, which involves refurbishing an existing railway through Angola and extending it into Congo’s mining heartland as part of the first phase, said Reuters.
No date has been given for its completion yet, while a second phase that would link Lobito to Zambia via a new railway line is still at the preparation stage, with an aim to break ground in 2026 said the newswire citing sources in Washington.
The Lobito Atlantic Railway concession, awarded in 2022 to a consortium of Western companies, has been presented as a win against China, as Washington is increasingly concerned about the Chinese grip on critical minerals, including Congo’s vast reserves of copper and cobalt, said Reuters.
It’s not known when the first phase of the project will be finally completed – possibly by the end of the decade – but a second phase, currently being examined, would run through Zambia and connect to Tanzania’s Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam.
Concerns exist, however, that such a link would provide the Chinese a route eastwards, a possibility that may not sit well with in-coming US President Donald Trump who is expected to take a harder stance with China.
Trump will likely back at least parts of the Lobito project and remain a close partner to Angola when he returns to the White House, said Reuters citing two officials who served under the previous 2017-21 Trump administration.
The details relating to the funding and construction of the second phase of the project are still in question, it said.
The Lobito project is backed by global commodities trader Trafigura, Portuguese construction group Mota-Engil and railway operator Vecturis.
