The Lobito Corridor is a huge infrastructure axis that connects the coast of Angola in West Africa with its mineral-rich interior. It was built in the first three decades of the 1900s to export cheap goods to colonial Portugal, but later fell into disrepair. Its main railway was rebuilt during Angola’s post-war reconstruction. Recently, it has attracted new and competing international attention.
Daniel Chalkus studies the political and economic geography of Angola, the spatial development of colonial Angola, and the current role of international actors in the country. Angola’s post-war spatial development and the government’s plans to promote more balanced and equitable growth are also addressed in his doctoral thesis. He questions some of the celebratory political claims made about efforts to revitalize the corridor. In particular, whether it will contribute to the diversification of Angola’s oil-dependent economy and benefit the general population.
What is Lobito Corridor?
Lobito Corridor is a logistics corridor. At its heart is a 1,300 km railway line linking the port of the Angolan city of Lobito with the mineral-rich regions of Zambia and Congo to the east.
Its most important component, the Benguela Railway, was built by Scottish engineer Robert Williams between 1903 and 1931 under Portuguese colonial rule.
At the time, it was one of three separate railroads connecting the colonial ports with the hinterland. In this way, colonial Angola was able to provide cheap goods to Portugal.
During Angola’s post-independence civil war (1975-2002), this line was largely destroyed. Angola entered a period of peace and was able to rebuild its infrastructure thanks to a booming oil business.
Chinese capital and construction companies helped revive the railway between 2006 and 2014.
In 2023, a consortium of Western companies outbid Chinese competitors and won a 30-year concession to operate the route. The consortium is made up of Swiss commodity trader Trafigura, Portuguese construction company Mota Engil and Belgian railway operator Vecturis. Angola alone has committed to investing US$455 million in the development of the corridor. Trafigura CEO Jeremy Weir said this would not only “create a western route to market for goods and materials” but would also “facilitate the development of sectors along the route”.
Why are cloisters attracting attention again?
Much is at stake in the Lobito Corridor. Far beyond local infrastructure projects, they are gaining strategic importance in the global scramble for critical resources.
Cobalt and copper from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo are key to the clean energy transition and modern communications technologies. Together, the DRC and Zambia account for approximately 14% of global copper mine production, and the DRC accounts for 73% of cobalt.
Controlling access to these minerals is at the heart of the escalating U.S.-China competition, also known as the “Second Cold War.”
Therefore, the Lobito Corridor has become a project of global importance.
For this reason, this railway line has become a top visitor destination in recent years. In 2024, then-U.S. President Joe Biden inspected the railway line, marking the first visit by a U.S. president to the continent since 2015 and the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to Angola. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also visited in 2025, which was also the first visit by a German president.
Even the Trump administration appears determined not to renege on its commitment to support development of the corridor.
In 2024, the United States, Europe, the African Development Bank, and the three host countries signed a memorandum of understanding to extend the line eastward and mobilize investment along it.
At the 7th AU-EU Summit in November 2025, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said these initiatives were evidence of the “European model” of investment and the “unique strategic partnership” between the two continents. The commission pledged to mobilize at least $2 billion worth of loans and private investment into the corridor.
The Lobito Corridor will continue to play an important role as the US and EU seek to counter Chinese capital investment in Angola and the wider region.
Who will benefit from the Lobito Corridor?
There is good reason to remain skeptical about the promised benefits of this corridor.
First, a recent background paper points out the major challenges facing the development of customs and regulatory soft infrastructure. Some say the commercial viability of the corridor is uncertain. Vessels calling at the second port of Lobito have higher costs. There is also competition from other routes, primarily the Chinese-built Tazara Railway, which connects Zambia and Dar es Salaam.
Second, the economic model at the heart of the Lobito Corridor is not a departure from exploitative extractivism. Throughout Angola’s history, primary products have flown abroad, while hopes for widespread growth have been repeatedly frustrated.
The consortium currently operating the railway is primarily investing in anticipation of future demand for critical minerals. And while the political focus on complementary investments is laudable, as one background paper notes, this is not the case with this corridor.
It immediately helps connect minerals with broader development.
Moreover, the country has already been a major oil exporter for decades, with little tangible results for the broader population. Rather, they have promoted blatant corruption and increased dissatisfaction with the ruling party that has been in power since independence.
Angolan economists Alves da Rocha and Wilson Timoko argued that “expectations regarding the impact on economic diversification are very low.”
Angolan government critic and journalist Rafael Marques de More also called into the hallway.
It is a mirror that reflects all the negative things the continent endures: Chinese debt, Western opportunism, Congolese blood, and Angola’s misgovernment.
for him
If hypocrisy needed a railroad, it would be exactly like the Lobito Corridor.
If this project is truly to benefit everyone, the government must deliver on its promises, but fewer and fewer Angolans seem to believe it can.
Author: Daniel Tjarks, Researcher in Human Geography, Saarland University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
