Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema said the US-backed project to connect Zambia's copper mines with Angolan ports offers the country a “once in a lifetime” opportunity.
The project would link mining operations owned by companies such as Barrick Gold Corporation and First Quantum Minerals to the Atlantic port of Lobito by building a new line in Zambia and connecting to existing railways in Angola. . The United States is supporting the upgrade of the Angolan route through a $250 million loan (subject to due diligence) announced last year by the International Development Finance Corporation.
The Lobito Corridor is central to the Biden administration's plan to counter Chinese influence in the region while securing access to metals critical to the energy transition of Zambia and the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. The ambitious plan spans his three countries and has support from the European Union and her seven wealthy countries.
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“This is a generational, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something that matters to our country, our economies and our people in terms of opportunity and business,” Hichilema said in an interview on the outskirts of the capital Lusaka on Thursday. Ta. “That's all.”
The project aims to reduce the time to supply mines and transport metals to ports by several weeks. Test shipments from Congo to Lobito took about a week after they began in December, but it took more than a month for the mining company to truck the metal to South Africa's Durban port.
Hichilema was speaking on the sidelines of an investment forum held by the United States in Zambia to attract private investors to the Lobito project, which will cost more than $2 billion.
A day earlier, China announced its own $1 billion-plus plan to revitalize the railway linking Zambia's copper hub to Tanzania's Dar es Salaam port. Hichilema said Zambia needs to conclude that agreement by September. The plan is for the line, known as Tazara, to be operated by a Chinese state-owned company on a commercial basis.
© 2024 Bloomberg
