Luanda, Feb. 5, 2026 (Lusa) - Angola's transport minister said today that the success of the Lobito Corridor depends on effective coordination among partners, considering this alignment essential to accelerating the corridor's transformation into a true axis of regional development.
"What was missing was a mechanism that could ensure effective coordination between all partners," said Ricardo Abreu, stressing that there is "great interest around the Lobito Corridor," but that it has come "in an uncoordinated manner, through a series of projects and initiatives that are taking place along the corridor."
The minister was speaking on the sidelines of the first High-Level Meeting on the Lobito Corridor Coordination Mechanism, known as the "Engine Room", which brings together the governments of the three countries involved and international development, financial and institutional partners.
According to Ricardo Abreu, Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo were already integrated into the Lobito Corridor Transport and Transit Facilitation Agency (AFTTCL), a tripartite body designed to ensure regulatory harmonisation and reduce bureaucracy, but an additional mechanism was needed to involve international financiers and partners, capable of aligning priorities, investment schedules and ongoing initiatives.
He rejected the idea that the new mechanism could lead to overlapping responsibilities, stressing that the "Engine Room" would “complement” the tripartite agency and that there was no risk of lack of coordination: "On the contrary, what we had not managed to do was to bring together, in a single space, all the international partners who want to promote development projects along the corridor,"
Ricardo Abreu emphasised that the Lobito Corridor is already in a concrete implementation phase, with investments underway on the Angolan side, acknowledging the challenges of rehabilitating the line in the DRC and the rail link to Zambia, stages considered crucial to achieving regional integration.
"We do have the challenge of rehabilitating the section of the line in the Democratic Republic of Congo and achieving connectivity to Zambia, thereby realising the effective Lobito Corridor," he said.
Ricardo Abreu pointed out, however, that the project is not limited to railway infrastructure. "The railway is only the backbone of the corridor," he said, adding that the goal is to promote economic development along this axis, with an impact on sectors such as agribusiness, industrial transformation, tourism and services.
The minister also stressed that international interest in the corridor "is no longer just a vision" but an ongoing reality, arguing that the current challenge is to ensure effective coordination mechanisms.
"What we need is to have the mechanisms properly established so that there is coordination, so that we know what the priorities are and how we can exploit these investments," he concluded.
RCR/ADB // ADB.
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