The SADC Secretariat convened the Lobito Corridor Committee of Ministers meeting to launch the Interim Secretariat for the operationalisation of the Corridor.
The three Lobito Corridor Member States officially launched the Lobito Corridor Transit Transport Interim Secretariat Headquarters in Lobito, Angola. This followed the 2nd Lobito Corridor Committee of Ministers meeting, held in Lobito on 22 January 2025. During the meeting, Honourable Ricardo Viegas de Abreu, Minister of Transport of the Republic of Angola, stated that the Lobito Corridor is a catalyst for intra-African trade, crucially enhancing Africa’s competitive position in the global market. It addresses the growing demand for essential minerals and other abundant resources in the region. The Honourable Ricardo Viegas de Abreu highlighted that the planned infrastructure development between the corridor Member States will reduce transit times and logistical costs, thereby increasing the region’s competitiveness.
Honourable Minister Viegas de Abreu also commended some International Cooperating Partners such as the United States of America, through the “Partnership for Global Infrastructure Initiative”, the European Union, the Republic of Italy, and the United Kingdom for their support, which will reinforce the strategic importance of the Lobito Corridor on the global stage, thus transforming it into a conduit between regional African markets and international markets.
Honourable Museba F. Tayali, Minister of Transport and Logistics of the Republic of Zambia, underscored that the Lobito Development Corridor is facilitating trade, enhancing connectivity, and driving economic growth in three Corridor member countries. He further stressed the need to develop the required infrastructure and establish all the operational structures for the Corridor and outlined the infrastructure projects Zambia had embarked on along the Lobito Corridor. Honourable Minister Tayali outlined that studies have shown that well-planned corridors can boost trade volumes by up to 30%, create thousands of jobs, and attract both domestic and foreign investment. “As Zambia, we are optimistic that this Corridor will reduce travel time and costs, thereby allowing goods and services to flow seamlessly through to the Port of Lobito, thus stimulating economic activity within the three Corridor Member States,” he said.
Mr Roger Te Biasu, Coordinator of the Support and Monitoring Unit for Regional Programmes and Transport Corridor Activities (CEPCOR) at the Ministry of Transport and Communications, representing the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), affirmed that the Government of the DRC attaches great importance to the Lobito Corridor development project. He said the opening of the corridor is eagerly awaited by mining operators of the former Province of Katanga, due to its short distance of 1,775 kilometres from Kolwezi in the DRC to Lobito Port in Angola and at a very competitive transport cost, compared to other sub-regional transport corridors currently being used by the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In her address, Ms Angele Makombo N’tumba, SADC Deputy Executive Secretary for Regional Integration, commended the three corridor Member States on their achieved milestones, which included progress made on the greenfield railway project between Zambia and Angola, the development of value chains in Angola, and the movement of goods by the Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR) from Kolwezi via the Dilolo Border Post between the DRC and Angola to the Port of Lobito.
Ms N’tumba also emphasised that the Lobito Corridor Development Corridor aligns with the SADC mandate derived from SADC Protocols, which include the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP 2020-2030), the Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan (RIDMP 2022-2030), the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap (SISR 2015-2063), and the Regional Agricultural Policy and its Investment Plan, which promote the common objectives of regional integration, market access, value chain development, and market linkages.
The Ministers approved the Lobito Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (LCTTFA) documents, budgets, and organisational structures that will ensure the LCTTFA Interim Secretariat is fully operational.
The operationalisation of the Interim Secretariat will also provide a platform for effectively supporting the Corridor’s identified priority infrastructure projects. These include the Zambia-Lobito Railway Greenfield Project, which will connect Zambia Railways from Chingola to the Benguela Railway in Luacano, Angola, as well as the rehabilitation of the Dilolo-Kolwezi Railway. The development corridor strategy and feasibility study, the creation of agricultural value chains for agro-processing, and mining value chains to aid mineral beneficiation will also be prioritised. As a result, these infrastructure developments will encourage small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in value chains, resulting in increased productivity, lower unemployment, and economic development that alleviates poverty in the three Corridor Member States.
