The Dilolo-Sakania concession establishes a long-term framework for rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of a key DRC section of the Lobito Corridor, linking the mining regions of Lualaba and Haut-Katanga with the Angolan railway network and the Port of Lobito.
The structure is also significant for how the railway will be managed. The DRC will retain an equity interest in the project company, SNCC will retain its passenger rights and freight operations, and qualified operators will be able to access the infrastructure under non-discriminatory conditions. Project financing and traffic risk will sit with the concessionaire without a Congolese sovereign guarantee.
- Mota-Engil Africa has signed a 30-year concession covering the Dilolo-Sakania railway section in the DRC.
- Mota-Engil gives the concessioned section as approximately 1,037km and expects total investment over the concession period to reach approximately US$1.8 billion.
- The Congolese state will hold at least 10% of the project company and receive a royalty equivalent to 7.5% of annual gross revenue.
- Project financing and traffic-related risks will be borne by the concessionaire without a sovereign guarantee, operating subsidy or minimum revenue guarantee from the Congolese state.
- SNCC will retain exclusive passenger transport rights and its right to carry freight, while qualified operators will also be able to access the railway.
- A joint DRC-Angola mechanism is planned to address railway operations, maintenance co-ordination, tariff transparency and the Dilolo-Luau border crossing.
Mota-Engil S.G.P.S., S.A. (Mota-Engil) announced on 26 August that its subsidiary, Mota-Engil Africa, had officially signed a concession agreement for the operation, management, modernisation, rehabilitation and maintenance of approximately 1,037km railway section between Dilolo and Sakania in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
This concession will provide a strategic rail connection between the Zambian border at Sakania and the Angolan border at Dilolo, providing railway access from the mining areas of Lualaba and Haut-Katanga in the DRC to the Port of Lobito in Angola and, consequently, to international markets.
Under the terms of the agreement, Mota-Engil Africa will be responsible, for a period of 30 years, for the operation, management and maintenance of the railway infrastructure along the corridor. The section is integrated into the Lobito Corridor Railway Concession in Angola, which now extends from the Port of Lobito to Sakania in Haut-Katanga Province in southern DRC.
Total investment over the concession period is expected to amount to approximately US$1.8 billion.
The concession agreement was signed in the presence of Democratic Republic of Congo President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo and Angolan President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço.
Under the agreement, the Agency for the Steering, Co-ordination and Monitoring of Collaboration Agreements (APCSC) will oversee the implementation of the project and monitor compliance with the commitments made by the parties. Article 20 provides for regular supervision and annual evaluations covering implementation progress, any difficulties encountered and measures required to improve delivery.
The DRC Presidency said the concession will revert to the Congolese state at the end of the 30-year operating period. The state will hold a stake of at least 10% in the project company and receive a royalty equivalent to 7.5% of its annual gross revenue.
Project financing and traffic-related risks will be borne by the concessionaire, without a sovereign guarantee, operating subsidy or minimum revenue guarantee from the Congolese state.
The National Railway Company of Congo (SNCC) will retain exclusive rights to passenger transport as well as its right to carry freight. Qualified operators will also be able to access the line under transparent, equitable and non-discriminatory conditions.
The DRC and Angola also agreed to work towards a co-ordinated rail connection between Sakania, Lubumbashi, Kolwezi, Dilolo, Luau and the Port of Lobito. A joint monitoring mechanism is planned to cover the harmonisation of railway operations, maintenance co-ordination, tariff transparency and improvements to the Dilolo-Luau border crossing.
President Félix Tshisekedi said the concession does not involve the privatisation of SNCC or the creation of a railway monopoly. The Presidency also identified employment, training, local business participation, technology transfer and lower logistics costs among the intended outcomes of the project.
