The Lobito Atlantic Railway consortium plans to invest US$555M in the Central African railway to open up access to remote critical materials.

The Lobito Atlantic Railway consortium is a public-private joint venture between Trafigura and Mota-Engil, each holding a 49.5% share, with the balance held by rail operator Vecturis. The Lobito railway project crosses three countries that have agreed to joint management of a trade corridor from the heart of the Copperbelt in the DRC and Zambia to the Atlantic Ocean port of Lobito in Angola. In May 2021, the Chinese company China Communications Construction bought a 32.4% stake in Mota-Engil.

The Central African Copper Belt is an important part of several critical material supply chains, especially copper and cobalt. The project could have significant benefits for its producers and traders of copper and cobalt in the DRC and Zambia, by giving them more options to get material to market (most material is trucked to South Africa for export to China and global markets). Meanwhile, while some haulage firms and ports in Tanzania and South Africa might see increased competition, any additional infrastructure in Southern Africa should be considered positive for regional supply chains as a whole. 

The rail infrastructure forms part of a larger project that connects eastward to Indian Ocean ports in Tanzania. Pensana’s Longonjo project in Angola and Peak Resources’ Ngualla project in Tanzania are two rare earth projects that potentially lie close to the planned corridor and will look to piggyback off the opportunities that arise from the development.