Lobito Corridor is connected by a stretch of railway infrastructure meandering through mineral and oil rich parts of Angola, the DRC and Zambia, linking Southern and Central Africa, besides providing access to Eastern Africa and a pathway to the Atlantic Ocean.
The recent peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda has renewed hopes of multi-national investments along the Lobito Corridor, adding new momentum to Africa’s long-term, cross-border infrastructural shift.
The peace agreement was brokered by the United States (US) and its mediating partner, Qatar, with US President Donald Trump describing the new development as “a new chapter of hope that will give the US access to DRC’s minerals through logistics on the Lobito Corridor.”
According to Christian Kayombo, Vice President of DRC’s National Chamber of Commerce and Economy, and a member of the Institute of Directors Southern Africa, the peace agreement alongside support from various continental and global sectorial players, is a pointer that the Lobito Corridor project is moving closer to actualization.
“With nearly USD$1 billion mobilised and operational capacity expanding, the corridor is set to unlock value for mineral exports, enhance cross-border trade, and enable regional economic zones to flourish,” said Kayombo recently.
He said the continued interest in the corridor is a “signal of rising confidence in Africa’s logistics corridors and cross-border platforms.”
A week ago, Zambia, the Africa Development Bank (ADB) and the European Union (EU) signed infrastructure agreements, marking a defining moment in Africa’s pursuit of integrated, sustainable development, boosting Lobito Corridor’s immense potential.
Martin Mpukani, CEO of the Business Place Network in Zambia says by connecting Zambia to the Atlantic Ocean through Angola, the Lobito Corridor reconnection initiative doesn’t just improve logistics, but it expands markets, stimulates local industries, and attracts new investment into the heart of Africa.
“The 550 km railway and 260 km of strategic roads symbolize not just physical connectivity, but a deeper political will to reshape the continent’s economic narrative,” he shared.
“With Namibia and Botswana also advancing joint refinery plans, Africa is no longer waiting for development to be delivered—it is designing it. The vision is clear: collaboration over competition, infrastructure over extraction, and regional unity over fragmented progress.”
However, there are those who don’t believe in pit-to-port as the way to go for developing African countries.
Harouna Cherif, an African deal-maker in the critical minerals, energy and infrastructure sectors says under the pit-to-port modus operandi; minerals leave raw, jobs stay minimal and communities stay poor.
“Now there’s talk that “this corridor is different.” It’s not,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post.
“Until Africa owns battery plants, refineries, local processing hubs; then it’s just a faster highway for raw wealth to leave,” he insisted.
The Lobito Corridor, he said, may serve global trade but real African growth starts with energy and factories, not just rail lines, adding that “logistics are important, but value creation is urgent.”
The Lobito Corridor rail route was established in the early 1900s and thrived until the mid-seventies, when its use was curtailed due to damage sustained during the Angolan civil war.
The period of underutilization, says lobitocorridor.org, continued until 2015 when a nearly USD$2 billion rehabilitation contract was funded and carried out by the Chinese government.
Today, the railway concession of the Lobito Corridor is controlled by a group of prominent European logistics companies, which include Trafigura, Mota-Engil and Vecturis.