Lisbon, Jan. 10, 2026 (Lusa) - The consortium that will manage the Lobito corridor line in Angola said it had secured financing of $753 million in an agreement that had Portuguese Eaglestone and the African Finance Corporation as financial advisors.
The signing of the $753 million (€647 million) financing package, which is divided into $553 million, or €475 million, from the US International Finance Corporation and $200 million (€171 million) from the Southern African Development Bank "is a milestone for Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR), a flagship regional infrastructure project that will rehabilitate, upgrade and operate the 1,300 kilometres of railway line," the head of Eaglestone told Lusa.
In addition to the benefits in terms of trade and logistics, the project should also ensure "a substantial impact on development, including job creation during the construction and operation of the line, and the development of skilled labour, improved safety standards and long-term opportunities for communities along the corridor," said Nuno Gil.
The financing package, AFC and Eaglestone emphasise in a statement, will also "increase transport capacity tenfold, to approximately 4.6 million metric tonnes per year, and reduce the cost of transporting critical minerals by around 30%".
Mota-Engil Vice-President Manuel Mota, quoted in the statement, believes that the signing of the financing agreement now announced "not only allows for more investment in the project, but also reinforces confidence in Angola's institutional capacity to attract interest in world-class infrastructure initiatives."
Asked about the advantages for Angolan populations living along the railway route, Nuno Gil said that the entire local economy should improve.
"The creation of an economic corridor along the route between Lobito and the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo is possible, and there are several entities supporting the Angolan government in this regard," said Nuno Gil, pointing out that the financing agreement now signed refers only to the management of the railway line.
Speaking to Lusa on the day it was announced that this Portuguese consultancy had been appointed, alongside the African Financial Corporation, financial advisor to the consortium that won the railway concession, Nuno Gil explained that there should be a boost to economic activity along the railway line, something that has not happened until now.
"When there are transport hubs, a series of industrial and economic centres are created, not in terms of cargo itself, but from an economic point of view, so the impact will be much greater than that of mere long-distance transport, which translates into revenue and taxes for the State, but does not boost local economies," said the manager.
The rehabilitation and concession of the railway line were awarded to the LAR consortium, composed of Portugal's Mota-Engil, Switzerland's Trafigura, and Venturis, a railway operator.
"The companies earn money by charging people and customers who want to use the railway to transport materials to and from Lobito; for example, if a company wants to transport cement, there is a metric of tonnes per kilometre and the concessionaire charges a certain amount," explained Nuno Gil, stressing that the goal is "to have full trains in both directions."
The financing will allow for "significant investment" in new transport wagons and will also modernise the entire communication and location system, in addition to rehabilitating degraded parts and logistics infrastructure, as well as warehouses that will support the operation, the head of the Eaglestone consultancy also pointed out.
MBA/ADB // ADB.
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