Andre Klynsmith

Railway

1,037 Kilometres and $1.8 Billion: The Congolese Half of the Lobito Corridor Now Has an Operator

The Democratic Republic of Congo has signed a 30-year concession with Mota-Engil Africa to modernise, rehabilitate and operate the Dilolo–Sakania railway, the Congolese section of the Lobito Corridor. The contract was signed on 26 August 2026 in Kinshasa and carries a planned investment of roughly US$1.8 billion.

Railway

30 August 2026 • 4 min read

For years the Lobito Corridor has been described as a route. With the Congolese section now under a single 30-year operator, it starts to look like a railway with an accountable owner from Kolwezi to the Atlantic. That is a different planning proposition for copper and cobalt shippers than a corridor stitched together by memoranda.

What Was Signed

The Congolese government and Mota-Engil Africa signed the concession in Kinshasa on 26 August 2026, in the presence of Presidents Félix Tshisekedi of the DRC and João Lourenço of Angola. The agreement runs for 30 years and covers modernisation, rehabilitation, construction of new rail infrastructure and operation of the line.

The Dilolo–Sakania line runs from the Angolan border at Dilolo to the Zambian border at Sakania, passing through Kolwezi, Tenke and Lubumbashi in Lualaba and Haut-Katanga provinces. In other words, it runs directly through the mining and industrial heart of the Congolese Copperbelt rather than around it.

Read the Numbers Carefully

Two figures moved between approval and signature, and both are worth noting. Mota-Engil puts the section at approximately 1,037 km, against 1,004.5 km in the government documents that preceded the signing. The investment figure moved further: Kinshasa presented an envelope of about US$1.258 billion when the project was approved in July, while the concessionaire now indicates roughly US$1.8 billion across the concession period.

Neither gap is a scandal — scope typically firms up between approval and contract. But operators building a rail-versus-road case for 2028 onwards should treat the capacity ramp as a schedule, not a switch. A line rehabilitated over seven years releases capacity in stages, and the early stages are the ones that will be tested by real traffic.

The Angolan Half Already Has an Operator

On the Angolan side, the Lobito Atlantic Railway consortium — Mota-Engil, Trafigura and Vecturis — already operates the link between the port of Lobito and Luau near the Congolese border, with about US$753 million secured to rehabilitate that roughly 1,300 km section. The new Congolese concession therefore creates the possibility of continuous rail from the Copperbelt to the Atlantic under closely related operators.

That continuity is the substantive change. A single commercial relationship spanning the border removes one of the most persistent failure points on African corridors: the interchange where two railways with different incentives hand over wagons and blame. Whether it delivers depends on interchange rules, wagon availability and border processing, none of which are solved by a signature.

About the Author
	Andre Klynsmith Entrepreneur & Technology Enthusiast Andre's expertise spans technology, blockchain, transport, and logistics -- with a passion for innovation and driving positive change across industries. info@laaimylorrie.com | laaimylorrie.com