Politics
Lobito Corridor a Lifeline-HH
The Lobito Corridor connecting Zambia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is key to achieving the Grow Zambia Agenda and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), President Hakainde Hichilema has said. The Head of State said that the multi-billion Dollar Lobito project…
Picture: Times of Zambia
The Lobito Corridor connecting Zambia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is key to achieving the Grow Zambia Agenda and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), President Hakainde Hichilema has said.
The Head of State said that the multi-billion Dollar Lobito project was not merely a transport passage, but an economic corridor which the three countries and the entire region could leverage to create more jobs, investment opportunities and increase intra-Africa trade.
The President made the remarks when he officially opened the two-day second Lobito Corridor Coordination meeting dubbed “Engine Room”, in Lusaka yesterday.
He said that the Corridor should be integrated into the AfCFTA ambition, as a building block for connectivity and increased trade.
“The AfCFTA cannot exist in the air, it must have building blocks such as connectivity through corridors such as the Lobito to help us realise that agenda,” he said.
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President Hichilema called on the project’s partners to ensure Zambia’s corridor component being the stretch from Luacano in Angola to Chingola on the Copperbelt was not left behind.
He said that this was because the component was critical to actualising the growth targets enshrined in his 10-10-5-3-3-1-1-1 economic development vision for the country.
“We have brown field mines on that stretch and we are talking about producing three million tonnes of copper per annum as a country, so the Zambian component should not be second fiddle on this project. We are also talking about five million tourist arrivals; the road and railway infrastructure will be key in this area because it will make the movement of people easy,” President Hichilema said.
Source: Times of Zambia — Read more
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