The Lobito Corridor

The Lobito Corridor is a 1,300 km railway line in Angola, extending into the DRC, designed to transport minerals to the EU and US. While several MoUs have been signed to secure critical raw materials (CRMs) and EV battery value chains, the author argues the project faces significant risks due to China's established supply chains, the TAZARA railway alternative, and the EU and US's lag in EV technology. The paper suggests that the EU and US should move beyond raw material extraction to support comprehensive industrialization across Africa.

• The Lobito Corridor consists of a 1,300 km railway line from the port of Lobito in Angola to the town of Luau on the border with the DRC, with a further 400 km extension into the DRC to Kolwezi.
• The corridor's operation has been concessioned to a consortium where the commodity trader Trafigura holds 49.5%, the construction firm Mota-Engil holds 49.5%, and Vecturis holds 1%.

APA

Chabala, E. D. W. (2024). The Lobito Corridor. Africa Policy Research Institute. https://afripoli.org/de/afrika-globaler-sueden-sued-sued-kooperation-en

Chicago

Chabala, E. D. Wala. The Lobito Corridor. Africa Policy Research Institute, 2024. https://afripoli.org/de/afrika-globaler-sueden-sued-sued-kooperation-en.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chabala |first1=E. D. Wala |title=The Lobito Corridor |publisher=Africa Policy Research Institute |date=2 February 2024 |url=https://afripoli.org/de/afrika-globaler-sueden-sued-sued-kooperation-en |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chabala2024lobito, author = {Chabala, E. D. Wala}, title = {{The Lobito Corridor}}, institution = {Africa Policy Research Institute}, year = {2024}, month = feb, url = {https://afripoli.org/de/afrika-globaler-sueden-sued-sued-kooperation-en}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }