Lobito Atlantic Railway S.A. (LAR), the concessionaire jointly owned by Portuguese infrastructure group Mota-Engil and Singapore-based global commodities trader Trafigura, has reached financial close on a $753 million financing package for the Lobito Corridor railway project.
The package includes $553 million from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and $200 million from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), providing the funding needed to advance the next phase of one of Africa's most strategically important transport corridors.
LAR is responsible for the rehabilitation, upgrade and long-term operation of the railway linking Angola's Port of Lobito with the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The corridor provides a western export route to the Atlantic Ocean for mineral-rich regions of the DRC and Zambia, improving access to international markets for copper, cobalt and other critical minerals.
Unlike many large infrastructure projects, the Lobito Corridor is an operational brownfield railway. The new investment will focus on expanding capacity, improving operational efficiency and increasing cross-border freight movement rather than constructing an entirely new network.
DBSA described the project as a strategic regional infrastructure asset that supports economic integration within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). According to the bank, the upgraded railway is expected to strengthen regional value chains by improving access to international markets, reducing transport costs and transit times, and creating new economic opportunities across the region while supporting the global energy transition.
Financial close marks a significant milestone for the corridor, confirming that one of Africa's most closely watched critical minerals transport projects has secured the financing required to move into full-scale implementation.
