A team of Italy’s Webuild, Turkish contractor İçtaş and Portugal’s Mota-Engil has won a contract for the 517km-long Lot 1B of the Lobito Corridor Railway Project, connecting the Angolan border town of Chingola to Zambia’s north central Copperbelt province.
The scope of work includes engineering, procurement and construction work in regions lacking large-scale infrastructure, plus 22 bridges and viaducts, eight stations and three maintenance depots designed to support heavy freight traffic volumes.
The project is developed and sponsored by Africa Finance Corporation.
Webuild says in a press release shared with GCR that the project will allow Italy’s supply chain to operate in Africa.
The joint venture team is still subject to technical, commercial and legal negotiations, due to begin in November 2026.
Lot 1B is the Zambian portion of the Lobito Railway Project, which will include 831km of greenfield railway between Zambia and Angola.
The corridor will create an east-west trade route in southern Africa and connect Angola’s Atlantic port of Lobito to mining districts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.
The project is supported by the Italian Government’s Mattei Plan for Africa and when completed it will reduce the journey from the Copperbelt province to international markets from 16 to seven days.
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