Luanda: The incompatibility of the Democratic Republic of Congo's railway line with that of Angola has created constraints in the operation of the Lobito Corridor, according to Katila Neto, the commercial administrator of the Port of Lobito. The official made this statement on the sidelines of the recent visit of deputies from the 5th Committee on Economy and Finance of the National Assembly to the Port of Lobito. According to Angola Press News Agency, Katila Neto explained that this constraint causes a less accelerated operation of the Lobito Corridor, as trains have to load and unload products at the border, in Luau (eastern Moxico). She also emphasized the necessity to build the railway branch to connect to Zambia. This is an integrated strategic project of the Lobito Corridor, extending from Luacano, in the province of eastern Moxico (Angola), to Jimbe, on the border with Zambia, over a distance of more than 250 kilometers. "These constraints have been faced mainly by the concessionaires of the Corridor (Lobito Atlantic Railway and Africa Global Logistic), but these are aspects that are being worked on," Neto informed. She noted that without these two infrastructures being properly functional, it is not yet possible to provide a better response to the operations of the Lobito Corridor. "We believe that in the short to medium term we will get answers and we will be able to improve operations," she stated. Referring specifically to the operations of the Port of Lobito, Neto stated that they have been running normally, managing to meet the needs of customers. "From January to June of this year, 177 ships called at the port and 931,000 tons of general cargo were handled," she informed. According to her, this year it is expected that they will surpass last year's figure of approximately one million eight hundred thousand tons of general cargo handled. When questioned about the new shipping line that departs directly from the Port of Lobito to the Asian continent, she said there are prospects for a monthly frequ ency in the first phase. "We launched the project in February of this year and we believe that the more cargo we have on this route, the more monthly frequencies we will be able to obtain," she assured confidently. The Port of Lobito transitioned from an Operator Port to a Landlord Port on December 23, 2023, with the concession of the multipurpose terminal (general cargo and containerized cargo) to Africa Global Logistic (AGL) and later, the ore terminal to Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR).
