Lobito Corridor: Dilolo-Sakania Concession Reshapes Logistics Between the DRC and the Atlantic
The Lobito Corridor has reached a decisive milestone with the concession of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Dilolo-Sakania railway line to Mota-Engil Africa. Signed on 26 August 2026 in Kinshasa in the presence of Presidents Félix Tshisekedi and João Lourenço, the agreement covers 1,004.5 kilometres of railway infrastructure and provides for approximately $1.258 billion in indicative investment.
Beyond the rehabilitation of a railway line, the project represents a potential shift in the region’s logistics model. For the DRC, the objective is to improve connections between its mining and industrial centres and the Port of Lobito. For Angola, it is an opportunity to strengthen its position as a strategic gateway to the Atlantic. For shippers, the key question will be whether the corridor can effectively reduce transit times, cargo handling disruptions and transportation costs.
A Railway Infrastructure at the Heart of the Corridor
The Dilolo-Sakania railway constitutes the Congolese section of the Lobito Corridor. It serves strategic economic areas including Kolwezi, Tenke and Lubumbashi before reaching the Angolan and Zambian borders.
The concession granted to Mota-Engil Africa will run for 30 years. It covers the financing, studies, rehabilitation, modernisation, operation and maintenance of the infrastructure. The concession framework also provides for the transfer of the infrastructure to the Congolese state at the end of the concession period.
The model is particularly significant for the DRC. According to the APCSC, the concessionaire will assume traffic risk under a structure that does not include a sovereign minimum-revenue guarantee or an operating subsidy.
The Congolese state is also expected to hold at least 10% of the project company and receive a royalty equivalent to 7.5% of annual gross revenues, according to information published on the concession structure.“Our ambition is not to build a simple corridor for evacuating raw materials, but a corridor for production, processing and value creation.”
Félix Tshisekedi
This distinction is critical.
The performance of the Lobito Corridor should not be measured solely by the volume of copper or cobalt transported towards the Atlantic.
It should also be assessed according to its ability to attract industrial activities, warehouses, logistics platforms, transport services and productive investment along the corridor.
The Real Challenge: Reducing Logistics Costs for Shippers
For mining and industrial companies in southeastern DRC, the value of an efficient railway connection lies first and foremost in predictability.
A competitive corridor must allow shippers to plan volumes, secure supplies and reduce uncertainty around transit times.
Experience on the Angolan section already provides an indication of the potential gains. The U.S. Development Finance Corporation estimates that the modernisation of the railway network and the Port of Lobito could reduce the cost and time required to transport minerals. It projects an average 30% reduction in export costs and a 29-day reduction in transit times for certain flows covered by its investment.
These figures should not be interpreted as guaranteed performance levels for the Congolese section.
They nevertheless illustrate the economic potential of a railway corridor that is properly integrated with ports, border crossings and logistics chains.
For shippers, therefore, the priority is not simply the commercial speed of trains.
It is the reliability of the end-to-end journey.
From Rail to Port: Synchronising the Logistics Chain
The performance of the Lobito Corridor will depend on several critical interfaces:
- cargo loading in mining areas;
- railway operations in the DRC;
- the Dilolo-Luau border crossing;
- rail connectivity in Angola;
- cargo handling at the Port of Lobito;
- transfer to vessels and access to international markets.
A single weak link can offset efficiency gains achieved elsewhere along the route.
This is why Kinshasa and Luanda plan to work on the harmonisation of railway operations, customs facilitation and improvements at the border crossing. Complementary infrastructure — including cross-border roads, dry ports, logistics platforms, energy infrastructure and fibre-optic networks — will also be required.
A Corridor That Goes Beyond Mining
Copper and cobalt are currently the main economic drivers of the corridor. However, the investment strategy is increasingly moving towards a broader economic model.
The African Development Bank now considers the Lobito Corridor an integrated economic corridor, combining transport, trade facilitation, agriculture, energy, urban development and institutional capacity. In August 2026, the bank approved a $255 million loan and a $10 million grant to support Zambia’s participation in the project.
This shift is strategic.
A corridor focused exclusively on mining remains highly exposed to commodity cycles. A diversified economic corridor, by contrast, can generate freight flows in both directions: minerals for export, and manufactured goods, agricultural inputs, industrial equipment and consumer products for regional markets.
For logistics operators, diversification could significantly improve infrastructure utilisation rates while reducing the risk of empty return trips.
A New Alternative for Southern and Central African Supply Chains
The Lobito Corridor connects Angola, the DRC and Zambia, with the objective of linking the Copperbelt’s mining regions to the Atlantic coast. The African Development Bank describes it as a major project for economic integration across Central and Southern Africa.
For the DRC and Zambia, its geographical value is equally important: it provides an alternative to logistics routes traditionally oriented towards ports in the Indian Ocean and Southern Africa.
This diversification of routes strengthens supply-chain resilience.
For a shipper, having access to multiple corridors does not necessarily mean abandoning existing routes. It creates the ability to choose between logistics options according to cost, transit time, rail availability, port congestion and service levels.
Competition between corridors can therefore become a driver of lower logistics costs.
AfCFTA: The Corridor as Infrastructure for Intra-African Trade
The Lobito Corridor must also be analysed in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The AfCFTA challenge is not limited to reducing tariffs. Goods must also be able to move quickly and competitively between African markets.
The African Development Bank has highlighted precisely this dimension: investments in the Lobito Corridor are expected to support regional trade, agricultural value chains, digital access and energy investment within the AfCFTA framework.
The corridor therefore becomes more than a transport route.
It becomes market infrastructure.
Its success will depend less on the length of the railway than on the ability of governments to harmonise procedures, accelerate inspections, digitise transit documentation and reduce waiting times at border crossings.
The Border-Crossing Challenge and Trade Facilitation
For shippers, border crossings can represent a major source of uncertainty.
Modern railway infrastructure will not achieve its full potential if trains are forced to wait for hours — or longer — because of administrative and customs procedures.
The implementation of coordinated mechanisms between the DRC and Angola will therefore be just as important as the physical rehabilitation of the railway.
The objective should be to establish a truly integrated multimodal corridor, supported by common procedures, interoperable digital systems and closer coordination between public authorities, railway operators, ports, freight forwarders and shippers.
An Investment Market Expanding Beyond Rail
The project also creates opportunities beyond railway infrastructure.
The development of dry ports, warehouses, cargo-consolidation platforms, maintenance centres, digital services, energy solutions and cold-chain infrastructure could support the corridor’s expansion.
International investment is already reinforcing this trend.
The United States has committed up to $553 million towards the modernisation of the Lobito Atlantic Railway in Angola, while the U.S. Development Finance Corporation is exploring additional investments along the corridor.
The African Development Bank, meanwhile, is mobilising financing to transform the corridor into an integrated economic platform.
For investors, the challenge will be to identify the segments where growing rail freight volumes can create sustainable demand for logistics services.
Why This Matters for African Corridors
The Lobito case illustrates a major evolution in the African corridor model: moving from simple commodity evacuation infrastructure towards an integrated logistics ecosystem.
For shippers, value will be measured through four key indicators: cost per tonne, transit time, service reliability and available capacity.
For governments, the challenge will be to ensure consistency between railway investments, port infrastructure, border facilities and economic zones.
For investors, the potential lies in the activities developing around the corridor: logistics, warehousing, energy, digital services, agribusiness and mineral processing.
The Next Test: Turning Infrastructure into Performance
The signing of the Dilolo-Sakania concession represents an important milestone. But it does not, by itself, guarantee the competitiveness of the Lobito Corridor.
The real test will begin with the effective rehabilitation of the railway, increased rail capacity, operational coordination between the DRC and Angola, and the efficiency of the Dilolo-Luau border crossing.
Ultimately, performance should be measured through operational data: average transit times, border waiting times, annual freight volumes, cost per tonne-kilometre, train frequency, infrastructure availability and port dwell times.
Only then can the Lobito Corridor move from being a strategic infrastructure project to becoming a genuinely competitive logistics corridor.
For the DRC, Angola and Zambia, the stakes therefore extend well beyond mineral transportation.
The objective is to build infrastructure capable of connecting production, industry, trade and international markets — and, more broadly, to demonstrate that an African corridor can become a platform for regional value creation.
