Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has secured a major financing breakthrough for the Lobito Atlantic Railway Project in Angola, advancing one of Africa’s most strategically significant transport corridors aimed at boosting regional trade and mineral exports.
The continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider said it had signed key financing agreements for the project, acting alongside Eaglestone as co-financial adviser to Lobito Atlantic Railway S.A. (LAR), the borrower and concessionaire of the 1,300-kilometre brownfield rail corridor.
The $753 million financing package comprises $553 million from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and $200 million from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), marking a critical milestone for a project that has long been positioned as a gateway between Angola’s Atlantic coast and mineral-rich inland markets.
Backed by sponsors including engineering group Mota-Engil, commodities trader Trafigura and international rail operator Vecturis, the project will rehabilitate, upgrade and operate the rail line linking the Port of Lobito to the Democratic Republic of Congo border. The corridor is expected to strengthen regional integration and improve access to global markets for critical minerals.
Beyond logistics, the project is projected to deliver broad development gains, including job creation during construction and operations, skills transfer, improved safety standards and long-term economic opportunities for communities along the route. Once completed, the railway’s transport capacity is expected to increase ten-fold to about 4.6 million metric tonnes per year, while cutting the cost of moving critical minerals by an estimated 30%.
AFC President and Chief Executive Officer Samaila Zubairu said the deal underscored the institution’s ability to structure and advance 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,” he said, adding that integrated rail and port infrastructure remains central to unlocking trade, industrial growth and supply-chain resilience. He also highlighted the corridor’s importance to Angola, an AFC member and shareholder.
Eaglestone’s founding partner, Nuno Gil, described the transaction as a landmark for regional trade, saying the project would 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 CEO Manuel Mota said the agreement marked the culmination of years of collaboration with partners, including Trafigura, and would expand transport capacity, reduce transit costs and improve access to mineral-rich regions in the DRC and Zambia. He added that the financing reinforced confidence in Angola’s institutional capacity to attract world-class infrastructure investment.
Trafigura Chief Executive Richard Holtum said the railway would serve as a key domestic and regional asset, supporting economic development and the efficient movement of critical metals to global markets.
The deal also deepens AFC’s engagement in Angola, following the country’s accession as an AFC member state in 2022 and its elevation to shareholder status in 2025. AFC said it continues to expand its advisory and investment footprint in Angola across infrastructure, energy and industrial projects, including complementary railway developments.
With financing now in place, the Lobito Atlantic Railway is expected to accelerate delivery of a corridor seen as central to Africa’s push for integrated infrastructure, regional trade and global supply-chain competitiveness.
