According to bank provided information, the project objective is to improve transport connectivity and trade facilitation along the Lobito Corridor. More specifically, the project seeks to develop climate-resilient multimodal transport infrastructure, reduce transport and transit times, strengthen border and corridor management, improve market integration, and unlock wider economic opportunities in trade, logistics, agriculture, energy, and services along the corridor.

The Lobito Integrated Economic Corridor Development Project is a multinational transport and regional integration project covering Zambia and Angola, designed to improve connectivity, trade facilitation, and broader economic development along the Lobito Corridor. The project forms part of a phased programme to develop a new greenfield railway linking Zambia’s Copperbelt and North-Western regions to Angola and the Port of Lobito, thereby connecting the Copperbelt to global markets through a shorter and more efficient Atlantic route. The full corridor investment includes approximately 829 km of new railway infrastructure, comprising 550 km in Zambia and 279 km in Angola, to connect Chingola in Zambia to Luacano in Angola and onward to the existing Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR). The railway will be implemented as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) under a user-pay, design-build-finance-operate-maintain-transfer model, with the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) as project developer. In addition to the railway, the project includes the improvement of approximately 105 km of the Mwinilunga–Jimbe road in Zambia under this phase, the construction of a One-Stop Border Post (OSBP), trade and transport facilitation measures, institutional support, and compensation and resettlement activities. 

The project has a multinational footprint across Zambia and Angola, with broader regional spillovers to the Democratic Republic of the Congo through the Copperbelt trade network. The immediate area of influence includes Zambia’s Copperbelt and North-Western provinces, with an estimated population of 4.1 million people, and Moxico Province in Angola, with about 1 million people, bringing the regional target population to more than 5.1 million people living along the corridor. In Zambia, key locations include Chingola, Mwinilunga, Jimbe, and the Zambia–Angola border area, while in Angola the corridor links to Luacano and onward to the Port of Lobito through the existing Lobito Atlantic Railway. The direct beneficiaries include corridor users such as miners, traders, freight forwarders, logistics operators, farmers, agribusinesses, MSMEs, border agencies, and local communities who will benefit from improved transport infrastructure and trade facilitation. The project is expected to increase access to an all-weather transport network for about 5.1 million people, reduce rail travel time on the Chingola–Lobito corridor from 17 days to 3 days, reduce road travel time between Mwinilunga and Jimbe from 4 hours to 1.2 hours, and increase regional trade between Zambia and Angola from USD 4.7 million to USD 20 million per year. It will also support job creation, including at least 5,000 temporary jobs during implementation, with a strong focus on women and youth, as well as training for 50 technical staff and 300 public officials, border agencies, traders, logistics operators and MSMEs, targeting at least 80% youth and 50% women. Additional beneficiaries include communities along the project road and rail corridors who will receive improved access to social amenities and core services, including water and sanitation, health and school facilities, with about 3,500 people expected to gain improved access to water and sanitation.