United States add 1300 kilometers to Lobito Railway Line, extending the corridor from Zambia to Tanzania

The Lobito Railway Corridor which was to run from Angola to Zambia through the Democratic Republic of Congo has now been extended onto Tanzania.

According to the U.S. government, the Lobito Corridor – a railway project that runs from Angola to Zambia through the Democratic Republic of the Congo will now stretch all the way to the Indian Ocean through Tanzania.

In addition to refurbishing existing lines, the project envisions adding 1,300 kilometers of railway from Zambia to Tanzania. The project is scheduled to be completed in five years, that is by 2029.

The railway would connect African countries to global markets and enhance regional trade and economic growth.

Helaina Matza, the U.S. acting special coordinator for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, recently updated reporters about progress made on upgrading and extending the Lobito Corridor.

Matza, who recently visited Tanzania and the DR Congo said the trip focused on re-launching the U.S partnership with the DRC and engaging with the Tanzanian government and private sector on next steps towards extending the economic corridor to the Indian Ocean.

“As President Joe Biden has said from day one of the launch of this flagship effort, this corridor has never just been about building infrastructure. It’s about offering high-quality, sustainable infrastructure projects that deliver lasting economic growth,” stated the U.S. acting special coordinator for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment.

The U.S. government, with the support of the European Union, African financial institutions, and the governments of Angola, the DRC and Zambia, is working to rebuild and revive the Benguela railway line that the countries used to export materials and minerals even before independence.

The project will be financed by USD 250 million from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.

United States’ officials say the improved railway line is meant to enhance export possibilities for Angola, the DR Congo and Zambia.

 The partly refurbished railway has already carried shipments of Congolese copper to Angola’s Lobito port for shipment to the city of Baltimore on the U.S. East Coast.

Former deputy chairperson of the African Union Commission, Erastus Mwencha, said transport systems like the Lobito Corridor can help improve trade among African countries.

“One of the reasons intra-Africa trade is low is because of poor transport networks,” Mwencha said, adding that goods can sometimes be brought from Europe to Africa at more competitive rates than goods being moved from one African country to another.

But Mwencha is worried that the ports and railways used to export Africa’s raw materials remain largely the same as they were during colonial times, and that Africa is also still operating on a colonial-era business model.

“Are we going to follow the colonial model of just bringing these raw materials and minerals and exporting them, or are we going to add value?” he said. “To me, that’s the more important aspect.”

Studies show that a poor transportation network in Africa adds 30 percent to 40 percent to the cost of goods traded among African countries, hampering the development of the private sector.

Matza said the Lobito project would benefit not only the U.S. but also African countries and would facilitate business on the continent.

“When you bring trade routes down from 45 days to 36 hours,” she said, “it opens up a whole new world for markets, and that’s what we’re testing here today: How can we help new agribusiness develop? What are the right places to think about cold storage, warehousing, logistics? What local food producers can we help support along the way?”