New Lobito Atlantic Railway CEO Gives Update on Lobito Corridor Rail Project
In a conversation with Jeune Afrique toward the end of August 2025, newly appointed Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR) CEO Nicolas Fournier provided an update on the #LobitoCorridor rail project. Nicolas Fournier was officially appointed on 19 August 2025 and he replaces Francisco Franca who leaves with the sense of ‘mission accomplished’, to use his own words.
The Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR) is a consortium of companies made up of Trafigura (49.5%), Mota-Engil (49.5%), and Vecturis (1%). Since 2022, LAR secured a 30-year concession to operate, maintain, and upgrade the rail from the seaport of Lobito to the border town of Luau. It is worth noting that China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) holds 32.41% share in Portuguese civil works contractor Mota-Engil.
Operating on the existing railway, the LAR kicked off operation in January 2024 after some refurbishments. Other than transporting minerals from the Copperbelt to the Lobito Seaport, the railway also transports sulfur and other needed materials from Lobito Seaport to the mines. At the moment, the LAR runs two trains per week and the main client is the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine. Plans are already on the drawing to expand services up to six trains per day, once the upgrade is complete.
“By 2026, Lobito Atlantic Railway will transport 240,000 tonnes of copper from Kolwezi to Lobito. By 2030, the annual volume transported will reach one million tonnes.”
Lobito Atlantic Railway CEO Nicolas Fournier
To support its expansion, LAR has ordered 275 container wagons from China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) which can accommodate one 40-ft container or two 20-ft containers. In July 2025, the first batch of 100 container-wagons landed in Lobito.
The railway is from Lobito to Luau, and then it travels to Kolwezi in the Copperbelt region inside the the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are talks to extend the line and to eventually link it up with the Tanzania-Zambia Railway which stops at Kapiri Mposhi.
