Construction of Angola’s 260-kilometer Luena-Saurimo railway line began earlier this year, almost three years after a design-build contract was awarded for the project, the first extension of South West Africa’s railway in more than 100 years.
As well as linking Angola’s disparate rail system, the project will be the backbone of a wider regional initiative to connect the mineral-rich regions of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the Atlantic Ocean port of Lobito.
Brazil-based Odebrecht Engineering and Construction, through its subsidiary Odebrecht Angola, in a consortium with Portugal’s Bento Pedroso Construções were selected as contractors for the $1.17 billion project that will connect Angola’s Moxico and Lunda-Sul provinces.
It is estimated that 2,000 jobs will be created during the construction of the line, which is part of the Benguela railway network.
The financing of the project will be from international lenders, as well as from the government of Angola.
Overcoming the lingering impacts of the civil war
“All engineering studies, as well as environmental and social assessments, have been completed, and landmine clearance operations along the entire rail corridor have also been completed,” Angola’s Transport Ministry said. Landmines, laid across the country during more than 40 years of civil war that ended in 2002, have posed a major challenge to developing and improving the country’s infrastructure, including transport.
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The new line will have 11 bridges, eight railway stations and at least two strategic crossings, according to the ministry.
The ministry said the 1,067mm-wide Cape line will significantly reduce transport costs and times, and contribute to a more efficient flow of agricultural and processed products while boosting “the transport of strategic mineral resources such as copper, cobalt and manganese and strengthening the connection with the country’s main logistics and port corridors, in particular the Port of Lobito”.
The president of Odebrecht Angola, Rodrigo Melo, said the new railway project “represents a historic milestone in land transport”.
Once completed, the Luena-Saurimo line will connect the 1,344 km Benguela railway line with the 479 km Luanda Railway in the city of Saurimo.
In December, the International Development Finance Corp. of the US approved a $553 million loan, backed by $200 million from the Southern African Development Bank, for Angola’s larger Lobito Atlantic Railway project.
This project involves the upgrading and operation of the degraded minerals port in Lobito and an approximately 1,300 km rail line in Angola connecting this port to Luau, on Angola’s border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lobito’s transportation capacity is expected to increase tenfold to 4.6 million metric tons, reducing critical ore transportation costs by up to 30%.
