Lobito-Luau Railway Corridor Project (MIGA-15099)

Countries
  • Angola
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
City of Luau to the Port of Lobito
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
A
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Borrower
ME Lobito SGPS LDA; Trafigura Pte Ltd
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Construction
  • Infrastructure
  • Transport
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Guarantee
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 180.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ MIGA website

Updated in EWS Aug 5, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Nov 18, 2024

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to bank provided information, the Project consists of the operation, management and maintenance of approx. 1,350 km of railway line, a brownfield infrastructure asset which crosses Angola from east to west, from the city of Luau at the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the Port of Lobito on the Atlantic coast; including the operation and maintenance of existing and new ancillary infrastructure along the railway line and at the mining terminal located at the Port of Lobito.

The Project involves the following components:

  1. The operation, management and maintenance of the brownfield Lobito-Luau railway line and ancillary infrastructure;
  2. The operation and management of the railroad service for the transport of merchandise on the Lobito-Luau railway line;
  3. The construction, operation, and management of two freight transit terminals (in Lobito and Luau) to support the rail freight service;
  4. The management and maintenance of the transport training center in the city of Huambo;
  5. The operation, management and maintenance of railway workshops, located in Lobito, Cubal, Huambo, and Luena; and
  6. The use of the Port of Lobito mining terminal for the reception, loading, unloading, and transshipment of goods within the perimeter of the Port of Lobito mining terminal, as well as the management and maintenance of its infrastructure, in Angola.

The Project entails one of Africa’s historical railway lines, an established corridor which aims to provide landlocked, mineral-rich, neighboring countries such as DRC and Zambia with an attractive route for the transport of their mining outputs – primarily copper and cobalt - for global export.

The proposed MIGA guarantee would cover Equity/Quasi-Equity and/or Shareholder Loan investments by Trafigura Pte Ltd (Singapore), ME Lobito SGPS LDA (Portugal) and/or any of their group holding companies, subsidiaries, or affiliates, into Lobito Atlantic Railway SA (the Project Enterprise) for a duration of up to 20 years. The guarantee is expected to cover the risks of Expropriation, Breach of Contract, War and Civil Disturbance, and Transfer Restriction and Inconvertibility.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Lobito Atlantic Railway SA Undisclosed -
- - - - ME Lobito SGPS LDA Client -
- - - - Trafigura Group Pte Ltd Client -

Contact Information
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Contact information not provided at the time of disclosure

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://www.miga.org/contact/access_to_information 

You can also request general information about MIGA and for information on guarantees by emailing: migainquiry@worldbank.org 

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org. You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org 

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