00:00The Lubito corridor is becoming a reality as trains begin transporting copper and cobalt from the DRC to Angola's Atlantic
00:09port of Lubito.
00:11Built around the historic Benguala Railway, the project promises faster exports and significantly greener transport than trucks.
00:20Having a train, you know, moving these goods is ten times more environmental friendly than moving these thousands of trucks.
00:28So this combined advantage really provides not only, you know, a financial and commercial plus for our clients but also
00:38makes them, you know, fulfill their social responsibility and environmental aspect which is more and more important.
00:47Linking Angola, the DRC and Zambia, the Lubito corridor was pitched as West Africa's answer to China's dominance in African
00:55mining.
00:55Its bays host a commercial port, oil and gas terminals, and the mineral ports naturally sheltered.
01:03It allows year-round shipping.
01:06Because I've seen that there are many more passengers than in the past, in the past, during the colonial era.
01:12In colonial times, we only had two passenger trains a week from Lubito.
01:17They were the Texuruya de Souza.
01:20And we also had two medium-distance trains per week, also from Lubito.
01:25So that means there are only a few services a week.
01:28There weren't many passenger services because I already started working back then.
01:32Today, there are more. It has increased a lot.
01:36Critics say the Lubito corridor risks becoming another episode in the global scramble for Africa's critical minerals
01:43unless it delivers real benefits to communities across Angola, the DRC and Zambia.
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