Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR), the concessionaire of Angola’s Lobito Corridor, plans to finalize a $533 million loan agreement with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) by the end of this year to modernize its Angolan concession, Reuters reported on Wednesday, August 20.
According to the report, the DFC committed to granting the loan in 2024 to support the renewal of 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) of railway and provide a fast route for transporting minerals essential to the global transition to cleaner energy.
In 2022, Angola granted LAR a 30-year license to operate the Lobito Corridor and provide a rapid export route for copper and cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through the port of Lobito, on the Atlantic coast.
LAR’s newly appointed CEO, Nicholas Fournier, highlighted that U.S. financing is nearly concluded despite concerns triggered by President Donald Trump’s rollback of Joe Biden-era climate and energy policies.
“There will be no changes. I know many people try to frame this as a geopolitical issue, but in reality, it is a commercial transaction we are carrying out,” Fournier said, adding: “There’s an army of lawyers on both sides debating every comma and everything else, so it is moving in that direction. We expect to have everything finalized before year-end.”
The CEO emphasized that LAR expects volumes on the Lobito railway to double following the ongoing modernization works financed by consortium partners, who have committed $555 million in investments.
“We want to double the volume by 2026, transporting 40,000 tonnes per month, and then continue transporting 1.5 million tonnes per year throughout this decade,” he added.
LAR’s freight trains mainly transport copper and cobalt to the port of Lobito for export markets. They also carry sulfur, mainly for DRC mines, as well as agricultural and industrial goods from the port.
Source: Diário Económico
