The InterContinental hotel in Lusaka, where Zambia, Angola and DR Congo opened the second Lobito Corridor coordination meeting on 5 October 2026 (file photo, 2008, cropped). (Photo: Alex Mukuka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

ZAMBIA · CRITICAL MINERALS

Zambia says the money for its road links along the Lobito Corridor, a US-backed copper route to Angola’s coast, is now secured. Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane told a three-country meeting in Lusaka on Monday 5 October that procurement comes next.

He named the African Development Bank (AfDB), the US government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the Zambian government as funders. Reports of his speech gave no amounts for the road package.

What Musokotwane Told the Lusaka Meeting

Musokotwane spoke at the opening of the Second Lobito Corridor Coordination Meeting at the InterContinental Hotel in Lusaka. The two-day talks bring together Zambia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and partners such as the World Bank.

“We’ve sealed financing for Lobito Corridor,” read the News Diggers headline on his remarks. The Lusaka paper reported that the money covers road connectivity and that Zambia is now awaiting procurement.

According to the Lusaka Times, he said the package came through partnerships with the AfDB, the MCC and the Zambian government. The focus now, he said, is on speeding up procurement and starting construction.

Musokotwane also said the railway’s viability depends on higher output of copper, other minerals and farm goods, Zambia Monitor reported. That growth, he added, would need “investment in roads, warehouses and other logistics infrastructure.”

Who Is Paying for Zambia’s Corridor Roads

Reports of his speech gave no figure for the road package. Two of the funders he named have already committed large sums to Zambia’s side of the Lobito Corridor.

On 6 August 2026, the AfDB board approved a US$255 million loan for Zambia from its African Development Fund. It added a US$10 million grant from the Rome Process/Mattei Plan Financing Facility.

The project will build about 550 km of new railway in Zambia, linking the country to Angola and the port of Lobito. It will also upgrade 105 km of the Mwinilunga–Jimbe road in North-Western Province.

The bank calls the loan a first tranche, with later phases that could take the total to US$500 million. On 15 September, a call went out for consultants to supervise paving of a 63 km stretch to the Jimbe border post.

The MCC is an independent US government agency that funds development through grants. In October 2024, Musokotwane signed its US$491 million Zambia compact: US$458 million from the US and US$33 million from Zambia.

That compact first targeted farm-to-market roads and agriculture. In June 2026, an amendment aligned its priority road segments with the corridor in North-Western and Copperbelt provinces, Zambian media reported.

What Angola, Congo and the World Bank Said

Angola’s transport minister, Ricardo Viegas d’Abreu, told the meeting the railway to the Atlantic is fully operational, News Diggers reported. Congo’s planning minister said a development agreement for the Dilolo–Sakania rail segments has been signed.

World Bank Managing Director Anna Bjerde said the International Finance Corporation, its private-sector arm, has found 118 anchor investment opportunities. They lie along the Lobito Corridor and are worth more than US$28 billion, in mining, energy, farming, logistics and forestry.

She warned against a rail-only approach. “If we coordinate only on rail, we will have built a very expensive conveyor belt,” Bjerde said, according to Zambia Monitor.

Bjerde said Zambia and Congo together account for more than 17% of global copper supply and more than 70% of cobalt production. President Hakainde Hichilema, who opened the meeting, said bureaucracy must be cut to get the corridor working, News Diggers reported.

A Finance Minister Kept On for a Second Term

Musokotwane remains in charge of Zambia’s treasury in Hichilema’s second term. The president re-appointed him and swore him in at State House on Monday 14 September 2026, the Lusaka Times reported.

He signed the October 2023 corridor agreement for Zambia, as well as the 2024 MCC compact. At his swearing-in, Hichilema told him: “Let’s drive investments, growth and projects.”

What It Means for US Readers

The United States signed an October 2023 agreement backing the Lobito Corridor, alongside the EU, the AfDB and the three countries. That deal named the Africa Finance Corporation lead developer of the Zambia–Lobito rail line.

A State Department official called it the most significant transport infrastructure the US had helped develop in Africa in a generation. The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) later provided US$553 million for the 1,300 km Angolan line.

That line runs from Lobito to the Congolese border under a concession held by Lobito Atlantic Railway, a Mota-Engil and Trafigura venture. The Development Bank of Southern Africa added US$200 million, and the financing closed in July 2026.

For investors in copper and cobalt, the corridor is meant to give Zambian and Congolese metal a faster route west. For background, see how Zambia plans to ship its copper west by rail.

Zambian media reported that the realigned MCC grant will also strengthen transport links serving Zambia’s critical minerals sector.

What Is Not Known

It is not known how much the road package is worth or which roads it covers. The share paid by each of the three funders is also undisclosed.

Reports of his speech gave no start date for construction. The AfDB approval notice gives no completion date for the 550 km rail line either.

It is also unclear whether the package is new money. It may instead be road funding already on record, such as the 105 km Mwinilunga–Jimbe road and the MCC’s realigned road segments.

The news does not mean Zambia’s Lobito Corridor rail link is fully financed. The AfDB describes its US$255 million loan as only a first tranche.

More: Zambia news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Lobito Corridor?

The Lobito Corridor is a rail and road route from Zambia’s Copperbelt and southern Congo to Angola’s Atlantic port of Lobito. Zambia, Angola and Congo are developing it with Western and multilateral lenders.

What did Zambia announce on 5 October 2026?

Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said the financing for road connectivity along the Lobito Corridor is secured. He said the focus is now on procurement and starting construction.

Who is paying for the roads?

He named the African Development Bank, the US Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Zambian government. Reports of his speech gave no amounts and no breakdown by funder.

How is the United States involved?

The US signed the 2023 agreement behind the corridor’s rail plan. A US development bank later provided US$553 million for the Angolan rail leg. In June 2026, Zambian media reported that a US grant to Zambia had been realigned toward the corridor.

Is Musokotwane still Zambia’s finance minister?

Yes. President Hakainde Hichilema re-appointed him and swore him in on 14 September 2026, at the start of the president’s second term.

Sources: News Diggers, 6 October 2026; Lusaka Times, 5 October 2026; Zambia Monitor, 5 October 2026; Zambia Daily Mail, 6 October 2026; Solwezi Today, 6 October 2026; African Development Bank, 6 August 2026; AfDB procurement notice, 15 September 2026; Millennium Challenge Corporation, 18 October 2024; Zambian Observer, 19 June 2026; Africa Finance Corporation, 3 July 2026; Africa Finance Corporation, 2023 agreement, October 2023; Zambia Monitor, cabinet, 14 September 2026; Solwezi Today, MCC compact, 25 June 2026; Lusaka Times, cabinet, 15 September 2026.

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