The Lobito Corridor on several occasions has been described as a game changer by freight stakeholders such as Duncan Bonnett, director of Market Access and Research at Africa house, and Mike Fitzmaurice, chief executive of the Transit Assistance Bureau.
But the bulk rail link connecting the Copperbelt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia with Angolas southernmost port, matters for another reason, say Shirley Webber and Stephen Seaka of Absas Corporate and Investment Banking CIB division.
According to Absa CIBs managing principal and coverage head of Resources and Energy, and managing executive for Public Sector and Growth Capital Solutions respectively, the corridor forces a more fundamental question on to the table: if the next generation of global industry is going to draw on Africas critical minerals, what scale of planning can genuinely support that opportunity?
