Lobito Corridor: A Driver for Minerals AND Small Scale Agriculture?
Modernising the rail link in Angola could - and should - lead to a renaissance of rural development.
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The Lobito Corridor is a multimodal transport system that includes not only the Benguela railway, but also a port, roads, airports and logistics platforms. The corridor intersects Angola, almost dividing it into two. It begins at the Port of Lobito, one of the largest commercial ports on the African Atlantic coast. From there the railway network, known as the Benguela Railway Company (CFB), runs directly to the DRC for 1700 kilometers, passing through the Luau-Dilolo border post. Also from Lobito, a road network extends parallel to the Benguela Railway to the DRC with links to Zambia. Catumbela International Airport near Benguela has the potential of being developed into an international hub. Logistics platforms with processing and storage facilities are meant to develop in Bié (400 km inland) and Huambo (200 km inland) provinces, where large-scale cereal milling and soy and sugar refining operations have been established. In addition, a direct rail link from Solwezi in Zambia to Luena in Angola is being planned.
The reconstruction and modernisation of the Lobito corridor is a symbol of political and economic stability in Angola which directly fosters the resilience of communities. Given historical, economic and social links, the corridor's area of influence is larger than the provinces crossed by the corridor, also including the southern part of the provinces of Cuanza Sul and Lunda Sul and the northern part of the province of Huíla. It is estimated that 26% of Angola's population lives within this area, which represents 44% of the total national territory. Finally, past transport conditions are of great importance for understanding the present and, therefore, the enormous legacy of the past should not be neglected, since the modernisation and reactivation of this corridor should not and cannot occur in a “vacuum”.
In the beginning of the 20th century the construction of the railway network was one of the largest foreign investments under Portuguese colonial rule and became an important gateway for industrial and agricultural goods produced in Central and Southern Africa. The busy route moved copper and other minerals (cobalt, manganese and zinc), agricultural products (cotton fibre and vegetable oils), machinery for industry and agriculture, mining and railway equipment as well as petroleum products and general goods.
Driver of Development
At the same time it gave the province of Benguela and the municipality of Lobito a unique role in development, as it enabled the expansion of commercial agriculture in the Central Plateau. Markets and traders emerged at the train stations and along the railway tracks. Fixed stores replaced itinerant traders leading to the emergence of other economic activities and the development of cities (Lobito, Benguela, Cubal, Ganda, Huambo, etc.). The Benguela Railway Company ran model farms, supplied basic social facilities such as schools and hospitals, and provided houses for its 14'500 employees. The port of Lobito evolved into the leading Angolan port in terms of national and international trade volume. Hence, the CFB's history stretches back to these “good old days” – before the War of Independence (1961-74) and the ensuing Angolan civil war, which lasted until 2002.
Damage and neglect during that period left the railway in a poor condition. As part of post-war reconstruction efforts, the Angolan government secured an oil-backed credit line from China’s Exim Bank, and a contract was signed in 2006 with China Railway Construction Company (CRCC) to rehabilitate and modernise the line at a cost of USD1.83 billion. Subsequent shortcomings in Angolan planning (Campos and Vines, 2008) and "irregularities" in Chinese firms' contracts (Vines Wong, Weimer and Campos, 2009) slowed the mammoth task. By 2014, however, obsolete rails were replaced and land mines removed – after completion 107 new railway stations and stops and 35 railway bridges were built (Transportes e Negócios 2013).
It belongs to the legacy of the Corridor, that although the main purpose of the CFB and the Lobito Corridor was to transport minerals from the resource rich neighbours further east, it was domestic traffic that proved to be its main source of revenue until Congo's independence in 1960. It was this traffic, in the original plans considered secondary, that developed and supported the line over the years. Robert Williams – the project's mentor – paid his first shareholder dividend in 1956, largely based on Angolan domestic traffic.
Today CFB operates passenger transport in Angola, while a 30 year concession for operation and maintenance stretching to neighbouring DRC was awarded by the government to Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR), a consortium of commodity, construction and rail companies.
Revitalising the Region
While western economic interest in the Lobito Corridor and its strategic potential for transporting minerals from the heart of Africa to the coast is increasing once again, the rail and road transport has served local needs well – and paved the way for remarkable social and economic transformations along the corridor. In addition to providing an essential, regular and inexpensive passenger transport service along the line and in more remote areas with less developed road systems, communities are making use of the train to re-establish commercial links between urban and rural areas and between inland and coastal regions. Especially, products from low-income families and traders travelling on the train were able to access emergent intermediate exchange centres that served as previously unavailable collection and distribution points, as well as hubs for information and ideas.
However, evidence suggests, that ensueing multiplier effects such as increased mobility, new employment opportunities and higher income levels, are not being maximised. Infrastructure alone, although crucial, will not bring about the changes necessary for agricultural, agro-industrial and industrial transformation. This does not arise spontaneously or sustain itself after investment in infrastructure.
Time for a Paradigm Shift
One way to renew multiplier effects could be to identify anchor projects at the national level, for example in the agricultural, livestock, forestry, fisheries, hydropower and industrial sectors – combined with a strategy to modernise small-scale agriculture practised along the Corridor. Modernisation should not be considered as something exclusive to the sphere of large-scale agricultural entrepreneurs who have access to capital and financial institutions – and substantial support from government. Agricultural Development Banks should offer financial products designed for small producers, especially women. Agribusiness and its value chain should be promoted so as to not undervalue and marginalize small producers in value chain development processes (including access to inputs).
There should be a paradigm shift – it is essential that small producers understand how they relate to consumers' demands and markets at the regional, continental and international levels so they can modernise and prosper. Ultimately, the Lobito Corridor might become an Agricultural Corridor. Although its operational track beyond Angola into the DR Congo and the planned extension to Zambia were to serve primarily as an export route for minerals, dear to the US and Europe.(1) Data supports this option, illustrating the large size of rural communities (compared to urban communities) in the provinces crossed by the CFB, and points to the potential development of millions of hectares of arable land while currently, only a small area is cultivated. (Duarte, Pacheco, Santos and Tjønneland, 2015)
Agricultural corridors are a trend on the continent, illustrated by the emergence of 36 agricultural growth poles and 9 corridors over the last 15 to 20 years. Four stand out – Tanzania, Mozambique (Beira and Nacala) and Nigeria, where the main investors are private sector actors. All were conceived in the last 10 years. In Angola agro-industrial ventures can be anchor projects and be developed from existing industrial development hubs along the line, namely the Catumbela Industrial Park (Benguela province), Caála (Huambo province) and Cunje (Bié province).
In this context, it is strategic to “relocalise”, i.e. to produce locally and for local needs in companies that are also financed locally. Any economic, political or cultural decision that can be taken at the local level should be taken there. Ultimately “relocalisation” does not exclude large-scale and/or international investments and projects. Only regulatory issues need to be defined to allow both dimensions to coexist in order to promote the prosperity of the region and the country.
Footnote:
(1) A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in 2023 as a framework für cooperation in developing the Lobito Corridor by the European Union, the United States, Italy and the three host countries, the African Development Bank and the African Finance Corporation. The G7 promised investments in 2024.
