nairobi, kenya — The U.S. government says it is set to expand the Lobito Corridor – a railway project that runs from Angola to Zambia through the Democratic Republic of the Congo – all the way to the Indian Ocean through Tanzania. The railway would connect African countries to global markets and enhance regional trade and economic growth, supporters say. 

Speaking to reporters online Wednesday, Helaina Matza, the U.S. acting special coordinator for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, spoke about progress made on upgrading and extending the Lobito Corridor.

Matza, who just finished a weeklong trip to the DRC and Tanzania, said the trip focused on “relaunching our 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.”

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 $250 million supplied by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.

U.S. officials say the improved railway line is meant to enhance export possibilities for Angola, the DRC 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.

Erastus Mwencha, former deputy chairperson of the African Union Commission, 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?”

In addition to refurbishing existing lines, the project envisions adding 1,300 kilometers of railway from Zambia to Tanzania.  The project is slated to be finished by 2029.
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