Mota-Engil Signs 30-Year Concession for DR Congo Railway Feeding the Lobito Corridor

The Democratic Republic of Congo has signed a 30-year concession with Mota-Engil África for the Dilolo–Sakania railway, the Congolese section of the Lobito Corridor. The contract was signed in Kinshasa on August 26 in the presence of Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and Angolan President João Lourenço.

Under the agreement, the Portuguese group will rehabilitate, modernise, operate and maintain the line serving the mining hubs of Kolwezi, Tenke and Lubumbashi in the copper belt, connecting them to the Angolan border and onward to the Atlantic port of Lobito. Mota-Engil puts the route at 1,037 km and total investment over the concession period at around $1.8 billion; the Congolese government's indicative estimate at approval was $1.258 billion.

The DRC will hold at least a 10% stake in the project company and receive a concession fee equal to 7.5% of annual gross turnover, with the rehabilitated infrastructure reverting to the state at the end of the term.

The deal closes a key missing link in the US-backed Lobito Corridor, designed to give copper, cobalt and other critical minerals from Central Africa a direct export route to Atlantic markets. The US International Development Finance Corporation signed a letter of intent in December for up to $1 billion in financing with Mota-Engil, which already operates the Angolan section of the corridor in partnership with Trafigura.

For Western governments and miners, the corridor is the flagship alternative to export routes dominated by Chinese-financed infrastructure in the region — and its Congolese leg is now formally under contract.