"Up to 1,200 buildings are at risk of demolition due to the planned rehabilitation of the stretch of railway from the Congolese mining city of Kolwezi to the Angolan border, most in Kolwezi itself, Global Witness estimated, based on analysis of satellite data. Many poorer residents of the Kolwezi neighbourhood Bel Air have built houses and businesses close to the railway line."
"Lobito Atlantic Railway a consortium of companies including Portuguese construction company Mota-Engil, Singapore-headquartered commodity trader Trafigura and Belgian railway operator Vecturis won a 30-year concession to operate the Benguela Railway in 2023."
The Lobito Corridor project aims to upgrade the colonial-era Benguela railway from Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Lobito on Angola's coast, add a railway link to Zambia, and improve port, agricultural and solar power infrastructure along the route. The project attracts financing from the EU and US amid global competition for copper, cobalt and other critical minerals used in green technologies. Angola estimates $4.5bn is needed for its stretch. Rehabilitation of the line threatens demolition of up to 1,200 buildings and risks displacing up to 6,500 people, concentrated in Kolwezi neighbourhoods near the track. A consortium operating the line holds a 30-year concession.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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