The Angolan government will receive US$ 100 million (100.4 million euros) in prize money from the signing, in Luanda, of the concession contract for the Lobito corridor, for the next 30 years.
The concession contract for the Lobito corridor was signed between the Angolan government, through the Ministry of Transport, and the consortium of Trafigura Group, Vecturis, and Mota-Engil, Engenharia e Construção África, which for the next 30 years will assume the operation, exploitation and maintenance of rail transport of goods, as well as the maintenance of the entire infrastructure along the corridor.
“The value of the signature premium for this concession is US$100 million, which is in line with the value of other concessions in the transport sector in Angola, and has made it possible to differentiate between bidders based on their financial capacity in relation to the size of the assets in question,” the document said.
The signing took place after several postponements throughout the day to review the amount to be invested by the consortium, considered low by the Angolan authorities.
“We looked very much at the issue of the value of the investment to be made by the private consortium and we reached an agreement, naturally it was beneficial for us because the value was lower, it is one of the issues that was discussed and we managed to reach this agreement,” said Eugénio Fernandes, national director for the Economics of Concessions at the Ministry of Transport, at a press conference.
Fernandes said that of the 100 million dollars received, 40% will go to the Treasury’s Single Account and the remaining 60% will go to some activities and projects that the Ministry of Transportation has in its portfolio.
According to the official, it was a good deal, because with the investment made by the consortium the Angolan State will be able to use these resources for other activities, namely health and education.
In turn, the consortium’s representative, Alexandre Canas emphasized that a total investment of 450 million dollars (451.6 million euros) will be made, of which 170 million dollars (170.6 million euros) will only be in locomotives and wagons.
“Because today there are not enough wagons in Angola, to reach the volumes that we want to reach, the infrastructure that will be 166 million dollars,” he advanced.
For the consortium spokesperson, the Lobito corridor will create many jobs and “is a vein that will fill with blood and a lot of energy, which will create a lot of social life around this corridor.
The Angolan official said that the Ministry of Transportation intends to connect the Benguela Railroad to the Luanda Railroad, and that the process of rehabilitation of the Zenza from Itombe to Cacuso, which is 215 kilometers of the Luanda Railroad, is already underway, stressing the need for improvements in the Luanda Railroad in order to make this interconnection effective.
With the rents negotiated, the Angolan state will collect, for each 10-year period: US$319.4 million (320.6 million euros) up to the 10th year, US$787.4 million between the 11th and 20th year, and US$919 million in the last 10 years.