The economic impact of the Lobito Corridor remains far short of its announced potential, as measures to improve trade and freight transport fail to advance at the necessary pace — leaving Angola’s logistics sector ranked among the worst performers in the world, the World Bank warned on Tuesday in Luanda, in its latest analysis of the Angolan economy.
Compounding the problem, the World Bank argues that logistics constraints — particularly at the level of infrastructure and technical certification — do not affect Angola alone, but also the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, the other two nations that form part of the Lobito Corridor. ‘The three nations face significant logistics constraints, with Angola ranking among the worst-performing countries on the Logistics Performance Index,’ the authors of the study stated.
The Logistics Performance Index, created by the World Bank, assesses criteria including infrastructure quality, delivery times, cargo tracking and customs service efficiency across 139 countries.
With regard to infrastructure quality alone, Angola scores 47.4 points on the global index — well below the 65-to-90-point range recorded by fast-growing East Asian economies. The World Bank attributes this to years of underinvestment in quality systems and certification, two elements it describes as fundamental to transforming a simple freight transit corridor into one with a real and broad impact on economic activity.
‘Agricultural exports to the European Union, including the avocado value chain identified as a priority, require sanitary and phytosanitary certification that Angola’s phytosanitary system is not yet fully able to guarantee,’ the Bank noted in the study, titled ‘From Transit to Transformation: The Lobito Corridor as a Driver of Economic Diversification and Regional Integration’. Without internationally recognised certification, producers in Huambo will be unable to access EU markets — and others with similar regulatory requirements — regardless of product quality or more attractive profit margins arising from specific trade agreements.
‘Experience shows that, to maximise the impact of corridors, successful economies have relied on two strategies: focusing support on entire industries rather than specific companies, and letting the private sector lead the way,’ the World Bank said. While acknowledging the efforts of authorities and partners involved, the study’s authors stressed that the ‘ecosystem surrounding the Lobito Corridor remains insufficient to sustain its transformation from a limited enclave into a broader engine of economic development’.
‘Given the uneven implementation capacity [among the different actors and partners involved], there is a risk of delaying coordination between infrastructure improvements and trade facilitation. Regulatory challenges and border inefficiencies continue to limit the competitiveness’ of the Lobito Corridor, the World Bank said.
The Bank placed the project at the ‘intersection of several major global trends’. Chief among them is the global energy transition, which is driving demand for minerals — particularly copper and cobalt. Between 2018 and 2024, copper consumption rose from 24.5 million tonnes to nearly 27 million tonnes, while demand for cobalt increased by 60%.
Geopolitical realignment, environmental concerns and shifts in international trade are also accelerating supply chain diversification, heightening interest in reliable, transparent and lower-risk export routes.
Africa’s demographic dividend, and the need to secure better opportunities and new jobs, has additionally pressured governments to step up investment in activities that genuinely promote job creation.
A further factor set to shape the economic future of corridor economies is access to technology and connectivity, which the World Bank said could amplify initiatives such as the Lobito Corridor — with potential to reduce trade disputes and increase efficiency across multiple sectors through digital customs and single-window systems, cargo tracking and interoperable data sharing.
Source: Expansão
