Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) said Thursday it has secured a US$753 million financing package for Angola’s Lobito Atlantic Railway, a landmark step for one of Africa’s most strategic transport corridors designed to accelerate regional trade and mineral exports.
The pan-African infrastructure financier said it signed key financing agreements alongside Eaglestone, acting as co-financial adviser to Lobito Atlantic Railway S.A. (LAR), the concessionaire and borrower for the 1,300-kilometre rail line linking Angola’s Atlantic coast to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The funding comprises US$553 million from the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and US$200 million from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), marking one of the largest recent development finance commitments to African rail infrastructure.
The Lobito Corridor has long been promoted as a gateway between Angola’s deepwater Port of Lobito and the mineral-rich copperbelt regions of the DRC and Zambia, offering a shorter and more cost-efficient export route than traditional corridors through Tanzania or South Africa.
Backed by sponsors including Portuguese engineering group Mota-Engil, global commodities trader Trafigura and international rail operator Vecturis, the project will rehabilitate, upgrade and operate the ageing rail line, which has been constrained for decades by underinvestment and conflict-related damage.
Once fully upgraded, transport capacity along the corridor is expected to rise tenfold to about 4.6 million tonnes per year, according to project partners. Costs of moving critical minerals such as copper and cobalt are forecast to fall by roughly 30 percent, improving the competitiveness of central African exports.
AFC President and Chief Executive Samaila Zubairu said the deal highlighted the institution’s ability to structure complex, cross-border infrastructure transactions of strategic importance.
“This initiative aligns with AFC’s broader development efforts to deliver a transformational transport corridor linking Angola, the DRC and the wider Southern Africa region,” Zubairu said, adding that integrated rail and port infrastructure is critical to unlocking trade, industrial growth and supply-chain resilience.
The project is expected to deliver broader development gains beyond logistics, including job creation during construction and operations, skills transfer, improved safety standards and long-term economic opportunities for communities along the route.
Eaglestone founding partner Nuno Gil described the transaction as a milestone for regional trade, saying it would help unlock economic activity along the Lobito Corridor and reaffirm the firm’s role in delivering large-scale project finance solutions in southern Africa.
Mota-Engil Deputy Chief Executive Manuel Mota said the agreement with DFC, DBSA and the Angolan government marked the culmination of years of collaboration with partners, including Trafigura, to advance the corridor. He said the financing would expand transport capacity, reduce transit costs and improve access to inland mining regions.
Trafigura Chief Executive Richard Holtum said the funding would accelerate the rehabilitation of a “vital corridor” supporting the efficient movement of critical metals to global markets, while also promoting domestic and regional economic development.
LAR Chief Executive Nicholas Fournier said the financing would allow the company to significantly expand capacity, improve efficiency and strengthen economic connectivity across Angola and neighbouring countries.
The loan will fund upgrades to track infrastructure, workshops, signalling systems and rolling stock, enhancing the reliability of what is considered the shortest route between the DRC’s copperbelt and international markets via the Atlantic.
Angola’s Transport Minister Ricardo Viegas D’Abreu said the railway plays a vital role in connecting regions and facilitating trade, adding that the new financing would help ensure the line operates at full potential and contributes to sustained economic growth.
Beyond Angola, analysts say the corridor could have global implications by improving the flow of copper, cobalt and other strategic minerals at a time when governments are seeking to diversify supply chains away from single-source dependencies.
For the United States and its allies, the project supports efforts to secure alternative routes for critical minerals used in technology, renewable energy and defence industries.
LAR is owned by Lobito Atlantic Holdings, a consortium of Trafigura, Mota-Engil and Vecturis, under a 30-year concession to modernise, maintain and operate the railway linking the Port of Lobito to Luau on the DRC border.
With financing now in place, construction and upgrades are expected to accelerate on a corridor increasingly seen as central to Africa’s ambitions for integrated infrastructure, regional trade and global supply-chain competitiveness.
