In a strategic move to reshape Southern Africa’s logistics terrain and unlock the region’s vast mineral wealth, the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have committed $500 million each to a landmark railway project connecting Zambia’s copper mines to the global markets via the Angolan port of Lobito.

The massive financial injection was announced by AFC executive director and chief investment officer Sameh Shenouda at a conference in Nairobi on Thursday. In addition to the $1 billion from the two African multilateral lenders, Italy has pledged $320 million for the initiative.

The AFC, a pan-African lender, serves as the lead developer and sponsor of the ambitious project, which aims to construct an 830-kilometer (515-mile) railway line.

This new line will extend from the Angolan border into Zambia’s Northwestern and Copperbelt provinces. The total cost of the project is estimated at up to $5 billion, with construction slated to begin in 2026 and expected completion by 2030.

"We have commitments for a million tons and we have clear visibility to get to 5 million tons," Shenouda said, noting that the project requires offtakes of around 2.5 million to 3 million tons to be viable.

The project forms the core of the new "Lobito Corridor," a flagship initiative backed by the United States and the European Union. It is designed to counter China’s growing influence on the continent while securing Western access to critical minerals like copper and cobalt, which are essential for electric vehicle batteries, defense, and aerospace industries.

The corridor consists of two main components: the refurbishment of an existing rail line linking the Atlantic port of Lobito to the southern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the construction of the new railway spur into Zambia.

Once completed, the link will cut cargo travel time to seven days from the current 16 days and generate an estimated economic impact of $3 billion for Angola and Zambia.

It will also reduce the distance from Zambia’s Copperbelt to the Atlantic coast by nearly 1,000 kilometers, offering a competitive alternative to traditional export routes through South Africa or Tanzania.

The Zambian spur will be the country's largest railway construction since the 1970s, when China financed the TAZARA line to Tanzania. According to Shenouda, nine engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors from various countries visited the site two weeks ago. Bids are due in May, with the evaluation process expected to conclude later this year.

"We will select the EPC contractor by July or August and we will break ground before the end of the year," Shenouda said, adding that financial close is anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2027.

The project is critical for Zambia, Africa’s second-largest copper producer, which targets output of over 1.3 million metric tons annually by 2026. The DRC, which produces over 70 percent of Africa’s copper, is also expected to route a growing share of exports through Lobito.

The railway follows the historic path of the Benguela Railway, originally built between 1902 and 1931. Before Angola’s civil war (1975-2002) crippled operations, the line was highly efficient, moving 3.3 million tons of cargo annually by 1937. China rehabilitated the line between 2004 and 2014 under a $2 billion rail-for-oil program, but volumes remained below capacity.