Lobito Atlantic Railway

What Lobito Atlantic Railway does

Lobito Atlantic Railway S.A. (LAR) is a privately held rail concession company headquartered at the Port of Lobito, Angola, that operates the 1,289 km Angolan section of the railway connecting the Port of Lobito to the DRC border at Luau, together with a track access agreement with SNCC for the 450 km DRC section from Luau to Kolwezi. The company was established in November 2022 when a consortium of Trafigura, Mota-Engil, and Vecturis (collectively Lobito Atlantic Holdings) won a 30-year concession from the Government of Angola via international competitive tender, and officially commenced railway operations in January 2024. LAR also operates the mineral terminal at the Port of Lobito, a deep-water facility directly connected to the rail line, providing bulk and container cargo handling.

LAR's core offering is integrated rail-port logistics, primarily transporting copper, cobalt, sulphur, reagents, fuel, and other commodities between the DRC Copperbelt and Atlantic shipping lanes. The railway runs 12 trains per week currently (increasing to 20 by 2027) with a 7-day transit time from Lobito to Kolwezi, and the company has secured a 5-year contract with Ivanhoe Mines as its anchor customer. The same-gauge cross-border infrastructure enables seamless wagon movement between Angola and DRC, and the multimodal contingency platform at Dango provides operational continuity during disruptions.

Revenue is generated through transaction-based freight charges from mining companies, freight operators, and regional traders, with preferential round-trip rates for clients managing both imports and exports. The company received $753 million in project financing from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and the Development Bank of Southern Africa in December 2025 to upgrade track infrastructure, workshops, signalling systems, and rolling stock, with targets to expand capacity 10x to 4.6 million metric tons per annum and reduce transport costs by 30%. LAR employs 945 staff, 97% of whom are Angolan nationals.

Name

Lobito Atlantic Railway

Legal name

Lobito Atlantic Railway S.A

Website

https://lobitoatlantic.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Lobito Atlantic Railway operates a 1,739 km rail-port corridor connecting the DRC Copperbelt to the Port of Lobito in Angola under a 30-year concession, providing freight transport and mineral terminal services primarily to mining companies, freight operators, and regional traders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Rail Freight Transport and Logistics Services

NAICS

Short Line Railroads (482112)

SIC

Railroads, Line-Haul Operating (4011)

akta.pro primary industry

Minerals & Ores Transport (Iron Ore/Bauxite/Phosphate) (TLADAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Minerals & Ores Terminals (Iron Ore, Bauxite/Alumina, Concentrates) (TLAHABAB)

Keywords

• Rail freight transport
• Logistics corridor services
• Mineral terminal operations
• Cross-border rail logistics
• Open-access railway

Headquarters

HQ city

Lobito

HQ country

Angola

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Railway Freight Transportation: LAR charges mining companies, freight operators, and traders for transportation of copper, cobalt, sulphur, reagents, fuel, agricultural and industrial products via its railway corridor between the Port of Lobito and DRC Copperbelt. Revenue is generated through freight charges based on cargo volume and distance.
2. Port Terminal Operations: Revenue from handling bulk and container shipments at the mineral terminal at Port of Lobito, including unloading, storage, and loading services
3. Logistics Services: Round-trip preferential rates offered to clients managing both imports and exports, bundling services for cost optimization

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR) operates a 1,739 km open-access rail corridor connecting the DRC Copperbelt at Kolwezi to the deep-water Port of Lobito in Angola, transporting copper, cobalt, sulphur, reagents, fuel, agricultural and industrial goods. The company operates the 1,289 km Angolan section under a 30-year concession and has a track access agreement with SNCC for the 450 km DRC section. It also operates a mineral terminal at the Port of Lobito for cargo handling.

Product overview

Lobito Atlantic Railway operates as a unified rail-port logistics system comprising freight transport services along the 1,739 km corridor from Kolwezi (DRC) to the Port of Lobito (Angola), the mineral terminal operations at Port of Lobito, and container wagon transport services. The company operates 1,289 km of railway in Angola under a 30-year concession and provides rail access services for the 450 km DRC section through SNCC agreement, offering integrated end-to-end freight solutions for mining companies and traders.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Freight Rail Transport Services
• Port of Lobito Mineral Terminal Operations
• Angola Railway Line Operations (Concession)
• DRC Cross-Border Rail Access Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 7-day transit time from Lobito to Kolwezi
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Southern African Railway Association (SARA)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026LAR welcomed the Executive Director of SARA and participates in SARA Rail Conference and Exhibition and Railway Safety Week commemorations.
• Caminhos de Ferro de Benguela (CFB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024CFB operates passenger services on LAR's railway line under a track access agreement, including frequent shuttle service between Benguela and Lobito. LAR took over operations from CFB in January 2024.
• Ivanhoe MinescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Ivanhoe Mines conducted a successful 1,100-ton copper trial shipment demonstrating transport time and cost savings. Signed first long-term customer contract (5-year term) in February 2024 for copper exports via LAR.
• Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer du Congo (SNCC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022LAR has a track access agreement with SNCC (DRC's state-owned railway company) to operate and upgrade the 450km section between Luau and Kolwezi. Same gauge enables seamless cross-border operations.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Etihad Rail: Etihad Rail is developing a new national freight and passenger rail network in the UAE, presenting a comparable greenfield concession-to-operations transition and freight-rail build-out playbook relevant to LAR's growth stage.

Others

• SADC Secretariat Railway Sub-Sector: Regional coordination bodies (SARA, SADC railway bodies) shape African cross-border rail policy; LAR's membership and engagement with SARA make these bodies relevant ecosystem participants influencing the corridor's operating framework.
• Grindrod Limited: Grindrod is a South African freight logistics group with rail, port, and terminal operations across Southern Africa, providing an adjacent infrastructure/logistics services comparable to LAR's integrated rail-plus-terminal value proposition.
• Caminhos de Ferro de Benguela (CFB): CFB was the previous operator of the Angola section of the Lobito Corridor before LAR assumed operations in January 2024 and now runs passenger shuttle services on LAR's line — an adjacent ecosystem participant rather than a direct competitor.

Direct peers

• Transnet Freight Rail: Transnet Freight Rail is Africa's largest heavy-haul freight operator running line-haul rail services for coal, iron ore, and minerals in Southern Africa — a comparable scale line-haul rail concession model serving mining customers.
• Nacala Logistics Corridor (Vale / CLI): The Nacala Corridor is a 912 km rail and port system operated by Vale and its partners to export coal and copper from Mozambique and Zambia to a dedicated deep-water terminal — the closest functional analog to LAR's rail-plus-mineral-terminal model in Africa.
• Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer du Congo (SNCC): SNCC is the DRC state-owned railway that operates the 450 km Dilolo-to-Kolwezi section of the Lobito Corridor under a track-access agreement with LAR, making it both a partner and direct rail-freight peer in the same DRC mineral supply chain.
• TAZARA (Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority): TAZARA operates the alternative 1,860 km rail corridor from the Zambia/DRC Copperbelt to the port of Dar es Salaam on the Indian Ocean, directly competing with LAR for central African copper/cobalt export volumes via a different ocean gateway.

Regional players

• Botswana Railways: Botswana Railways runs freight rail connecting Botswana to South African and Namibian ports, serving a similar Southern African mining customer base with bulk commodity freight — a regional rail peer operating under a comparable concession-style model.
• Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM): CFM operates Mozambique's national rail network, including lines that feed the Nacala and Beira port corridors — a regional African state railway peer competing for cross-border mineral traffic.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lobito-atlantic-railway

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lobito Atlantic Railway