The Ministers responsible for Transport and Corridor Development from Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia with support and coordination of the Secretariat of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will sign the Lobito Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (LCTTFA) Agreement at Lobito Port, Province of Benguela, Angola, on the 27th January 2023.
Lobito Corridor stretches from the Port of Lobito lying on the Atlantic Ocean, and passes through Angola from West to East through the Provinces of Benguela, Huambo, Bie’ and Moxico. It covers the mining areas of the Katanga Province of DRC and the Copperbelt of Zambia.
Lobito Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency Agreement will accelerate growth in domestic and cross-border trade along the Corridor through the implementation of harmonised trade facilitation instruments, strengthening coordination of joint corridor development activities, and fostering effective participation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in value chains.
The Lobito Corridor presents an alternative strategic route to export markets for Zambia and DRC and offers the shortest route linking key mining regions in these two countries to the sea. In Angola, the Corridor connects 40% of the country’s population and several large scale investments are taking place in agriculture and retail in the provinces of Benguela, Huambo, Bie, and Moxico.
The signing of the corridor governance instrument will create a framework for the three SADC Member States to jointly develop harmonised corridor laws, policies, regulations and systems including infrastructure development in a coordinated and coherent manner aligned to the SADC Treaty, Protocols and development frameworks such as the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020-2030, Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan 2020-2027 and SADC Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap 2020-2063.
