The Angolan government is planning to begin work on a 260km branch of the Benguela railway (CFB) network in 2025, linking Luena and Saurimo, the capitals of the eastern provinces of Moxico and Lunda Sul respectively.

The 1,344km CFB line is part of the Lobito trade corridor linking the Port of Lobito to Luau on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

The plan for the new branch line was announced by Daniel Neto, governor of the Lunda Sul province, in early January. The governor said the project’s preliminary and environmental impact studies had been completed.

In March 2023, President Joao Lourenco authorised the award of a US$1.2 billion contract to design and construct the Luena-Saurimo line to a team of the local subsidiary of Brazil’s Odebrecht Engineering and Construction International (OECI) and OECI subsidiary Bento Pedroso Construcoes (BPC).

The scheme is part of the government’s plan to connect the provinces of the Lundas region to the Lobito port via rail, boosting the mining and agricultural sectors.

The Luena-Saurimo line is also part of Angola’s National Masterplan for the Transport and Road Infrastructure Sector (PDNSTIR) and the National Railway Network Expansion Plan, which target the interconnection and expansion of the country’s three railways. These include the 479km Luanda railway (CFL) network in the north, which connects the Port of Luanda to Malanje, capital of the Malanje province, and the 907km Mocamedes railway (CFM) line in the south, which links the Port of Namibe to Menongue, capital of the Cuando Cubango province.

The Luena-Saurimo line will enable the interlinking of the CFB and CFL networks once the proposed 564km line running from Malanje to Saurimo is built.

Under further expansion plans, the CFB line is planned to be extended by 259km from Luacano to Jimbe on the border with Zambia under the Zambia-Lobito railway (ZLR) project.

The overall 780km ZLR is set to connect Zambia’s Copperbelt region with the Port of Lobito. Construction is planned to begin in early 2026. In September 2024, the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) invited technical proposals from US firms to undertake an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) for the scheme.

Once fully developed, the ZLR is envisaged to provide the primary open-access transportation infrastructure connecting Zambia and Angola, and create a trade corridor across the African continent, running from the Atlantic Ocean through the Lobito port to the Indian Ocean through Tanzania’s Port of Dar Es Salaam.

Meanwhile, the CFL network is planned to be extended through five additional schemes totalling 2,818km to the Port of Soyo as well as various points at the DRC border, including Kamina and Dundo.

The interconnection with the DRC will facilitate old, wood, minerals and agricultural trade. In addition, the linkage with Kamina, a strategic rail junction, will enable Angola to access three DRC rail lines that run to the north, west and southeast of the country and also interconnect with neighbouring states. The line to Katanga, which is part of Central Africa's copper belt region, will support the mining industry.

Angola’s CFM line is proposed to be extended through a 512km branch running from Menongue to Rivungo in the Cuando Cubango province on the border with Zambia. The objective is to enable exports of iron from Namibe and imports of minerals from Zambia. In addition, the planned route is envisaged to have great tourism potential, interconnecting Namibe with the renowned Victoria Falls on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The line could also form part of a route to the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

The linkage to Victoria Falls could also enable Angola to take advantage of a connection to the Zimbabwe/Zambia railway network, as well as an intermodality with the Trans-African road network and access to Zambia’s capital Lusaka, along with Zimbabwe, Botswana and Malawi.

Top photo: Benguela railway (© David Stanley | Wikimedia Commons)